T20I World Cup

Arshdeep made his T20I debut against England in July last year and has featured in 25 matches since then, claiming 39 wickets so far. In the same year, the left-arm fast bowler marked his ODI debut against New Zealand in November. On the other hand, wicketkeeper-batter Ishan scored a double ODI hundred against Bangladesh last year that saw him enter the record book.

But New Zealand spinner Michael Bracewell did not make any such complaints after his team lost to India in the low-scoring second T20I of the three-match series on a spin-friendly pitch at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. New Zealand were restricted to just 99/8 in their 20 overs on a pitch on which the ball took a copious amounts of turn and was unplayable at times.

"Firstly, winning the World Cup is a big deal and then the Under-19 women's winning the inaugural World Cup by which the name of India will be written on it in golden letters is a big deal. By the way, the women's cricket team has played the semi-finals of the World Cup many times and also played the finals many times but never won the trophy."

Nearly 18 years after India first made it to the final of a World Cup through the 50-over event in 2005, Shafali Verma & Co produced a superb bowling performance coupled with some outstanding fielding to bowl out England for just 68. Fast bowler Titas Sadhu, off-spinner Archana Devi and leg-spinner Parshavi Chopra were accurate in their line,

Electing to field first, Parshavi justified captain Shafali Verma's call to bowling first with a spell of 3-20 in her four overs and helped India restrict New Zealand to a mere 107 in 20 overs. In reply, Shweta asserted her run-making prowess by hitting her third half-century in the competition and remained unbeaten on 61 off 45 balls to complete the chase in 14.2 overs.

"As a professional, you can't be doing this. We often hear that today's players say, things aren't in our control. Not bowling no ball is in your control. What happens after you deliver the ball, what the batsman does, is another thing. Not bowling a no ball is definitely in your control," said Gavaskar when he was on his commentary duty for broadcasters Star Sports.

The 18-year old Theertha had played 33 T20Is for the UAE senior women's team since 2021. Apart from her, the UAE U19 has eight more capped senior women's international cricketers in Vaishnave Mahesh, Samaira Dharnidharka, Lavanya Keny, Sanchin Singh, Rinitha Rajith, Indhuja Nandakumar, Siya Gokhale and Mahika Gaur.

​​​​​​​The worry that creeps into ones' mind is the famous Aesop story of 'The Goose that laid the Golden Egg'. Is the game of cricket being flogged excessively? If so, the interest for it may dwindle and the famous economist, John Keynes' theory of receding demand due to the increase in supply may come forth prominently.

"It may sound strange, but we played well in the first half, but they came out in the second. It is something we have to correct, but the main thing is that we have qualified," commented Luis Enrique. "It's obvious that we would have liked to qualify by winning this match, but we are in the last 16," he added.

India suffered a humiliating 10-wicket loss to England in the semifinals as the Men in Blue failed to bring home a T20 World Cup title once again. A lot of criticism followed, where experts and fans slammed India's 'old-school' approach to T20 cricket. There have been calls to split the coaches' roles too and the issue could come up for discussion during the BCCI's Apex Council meeting later this month.