Just ahead of the start of IPL 2026, KKR would be relieved to witness their star all-rounder Cameron Green hitting some good form in his signing-off game in the Sheffield Shield. This marked his first red-ball century since May 2025 and his first across any format since August 2025.

Western Australia took on New South Wales for the last round of the Sheffield Shield, and Australian all-rounder Cameron Green put big stakes at risk as he played the match ahead of his big-money arrival in the IPL for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Green started his IPL journey with the Mumbai Indians and then played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore the very next season after being traded off to the Red Devils. He missed the 2025 season due to injuries and is all set to return with a third franchise in 2026.

Your daily dose of cricket!

Cameron Green returns to form with a terrific century ahead of IPL 2026

Australian all-rounder Cameron Green was bought for a massive amount of money in the IPL by the Kolkata Knight Riders. They broke the record for the highest amount of money spent on an overseas cricketer. However, Green’s continuous dip in form added to KKR’s concerns.

Cameron Green missed out on a single 50+ score through the Ashes series against England and then could not pull out anything special as Australia crashed out of the ICC T20 World Cup Group stages following defeats against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

However, in the final game of the Sheffield Shield season for him, Green manifested something special. He managed to score a century off 167 balls, after having made a slow start, getting his first runs after 21 balls.

He then smashed the New South Wales bowlers all around the park and whacked them for some big ones, as his unbeaten 130 on Day 2 saw Western Australia take a promising lead over New South Wales.

This Sheffield Shield century might help Green retain his Australia team spot in red-ball cricket

The KKR all-rounder’s last century came back in August when he scored a quickfire century in an ODI match against South Africa. His last red-ball century came in English County cricket back in May for Gloucestershire.

Despite his lack of form, the Australian selectors backed him over Beau Webster, the Tasmanian all-rounder who finally played his only Ashes game in the final Test at the SCG. Webster also contributed magnificently with both the bat and ball, unlike Green.

However, this Shield hundred could get him to retain his spot in the Australian middle order when he returns to play Test cricket in August. Australia’s Test schedule mentions their upcoming fixtures against Bangladesh in August, followed by three in South Africa and four more at home against New Zealand.

Will KKR expect Cameron Green to bowl in IPL 2026?

KKR would have had high hopes picking Cameron Green. Green’s first season for the Mumbai Indians saw him performing with great class as he scored 400+ runs and picked 10+ wickets in his first season. The following season for RCB was a little low with the bat, as he was pushed down the order, but his bowling came in handy for them as well.

However, KKR would surely give him the desired role at no. 3, as they have been in the quest for one such player. KKR paid him 25.20 crore in the IPL mini-auction, the most to any overseas cricketer, surpassing teammate Mitchell Starc‘s record in the IPL.

This much money was probably given with KKR idealizing him to bowl some overs. Though he had registered as a specialist batter, KKR management saw him bowl in the T20 World Cup and might bring his seam bowling to use, especially with so many of their frontline bowlers being ruled out.

ALSO READ: RCB or RR? Lalit Modi back in IPL set to buy….

NEW DELHI: For the Left, its most crucial battle is in Kerala, as the CPM-led LDF fights for a return to power in the last Communist-governed state, which goes to polls with West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry. In Bengal – where it was once the dominant force and now lacks any presence in terms of MLAs and MPs from the state – it is striving for a revival. And in Tamil Nadu, it is putting up a fight to ensure the return of the DMK-led alliance, of which CPM and CPI are a part. The Left parties, including CPI(ML), are also gearing up for a fight against BJP as part of the Congress-led alliance in Assam. They will focus on reaching the working class, Dalits and other backward classes in all the poll-bound states.

General secretaries of CPM and CPI(ML) Liberation, MA Baby and Dipankar Bhattacharya, respectively, highlighted that the goal is to expand the footprint of the Left, weaken BJP where it is in power and ensure that the latter does not grow stronger in opposition-ruled states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Emphasising the outreach by the Left parties, CPI’s D Raja said BJP stands exposed for its failures on the economy, employment generation, inflation and foreign policy. Baby admitted that while there is a “stiff fight” in Kerala, “we are confident that people will see all that the LDF govt has done and not be swayed by the narratives of UDF and BJP. We are also going to the people and are open to criticism to understand their concerns and address them.” With a resurgent UDF stepping up its attack on the two-term CPM-led govt in Kerala and a BJP seen to be making inroads, the assembly polls in the state will be a critical test for the Left parties. A loss will put a big question mark over the Left’s relevance in the INDIA bloc, nationally. Meanwhile, in a bid to steer a revival in West Bengal and mark its presence as the third force in the contest, the Left front is going to the polls as a broader coalition which has CPI(ML) – unlike in the previous assembly elections – and some non-Left players too.

NEW DELHI: Congress’s fortunes post-2014 have followed a familiar pattern: rout in the national elections and then a long wait for assembly wins. It was an extended barren patch of three and a half years before Congress won a state poll (Himachal) after being routed in the Pulwama-dictated 2019 Lok Sabha contest. This time, Congress is hoping that the wait – which should have ended immediately after the 2024 LS polls with wins in Haryana and then Maharashtra – will finally be over through a win in Kerala. The polls in four states and one UT are an opportunity for Congress to get back into the reckoning, which the party prematurely hoped that the creditable performance in the difficult 2024 polls would ensure. If Kerala-2026 is the essence of Congress’s stakes in the coming battles, the principal opposition party is aiming to score significant political points in Assam, TN and Bengal, given that arch-rival BJP has positioned itself as a player across the national geography. After all, in the years since the Modi-led party turned into a political juggernaut, the Rahul Gandhi-run Congress has chosen to define itself ideologically and in sole opposition to BJP – a process which has also led to greater convergence among foes within the secular camp. For once, Congress ended the longstanding dichotomy of being an ally of CPM at the national level and in Bengal, while being a rival in Kerala – which provided BJP with an easy line of attack. It decided early to go solo in Bengal. Like many of the ‘Congress vs BJP’ fields, Assam has turned barren for the former with back-to-back defeats. Communal polarisation, marginalisation via defections and Assam-specific delimitation have made its political task a challenge. Congress belatedly plumped for Gaurav Gogoi, a young face with socio-political pedigree, as its flag-bearer. By all indications, Congress is hoping for a respectable performance that can debunk the growing perception of Assam becoming a one-party turf and keep the party alive in the state. After an unexpected public squabbling with DMK, Congress settled for a minor seat share for the polls. Given that BJP has inserted itself in the AIADMK-led bloc, and speculations are rife that TVK of Tamil superstar, Vijay, can be “influenced” by BJP after elections, Congress is eager that DMK sails through. The post-Jayalalithaa landscape in the state has proved easier for DMK, as witnessed in the 2024 LS polls, but TVK’s emergence and the prospect of a three-way split of votes have created uncertainty. Reduced to less than a fringe player in Mamata Banerjee’s fief, Bengal Congress is moving with a two-fold target in its solo run. The party believes it cannot go below 2021’s pathetic result of zero seats and 3% votes. AICC state in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir said the party’s vote share should move upwards of 15%.

Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma (Agency Image)

Virat Kohli has picked his former Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate Chris Gayle ahead of Rohit Sharma while choosing the best opener in T20 cricket during a recent “This or That” challenge.In a video shared by RCB on Sunday, Kohli was asked to select between two players at a time while identifying the greatest opener in the shortest format. The former RCB captain first opted for Adam Gilchrist over Sunil Narine.

The next comparison was between Gilchrist and Travis Head, and Kohli picked the Australian left-hander, explaining that his choice was specifically for T20 cricket. When Head was then put up against Virender Sehwag, Kohli switched to the former India opener.The comparisons continued with Sehwag facing Sachin Tendulkar, but Kohli again selected Sehwag, noting that in the T20 format he would still favour the aggressive opener.The challenge eventually reached its final choice between Rohit and Gayle. After pausing briefly, Kohli decided to go with the West Indies legend as his pick for the best T20 opener.Gayle’s record in the format backs up his reputation. The former West Indies national cricket team opener remains the highest run-scorer in T20 cricket, having amassed 14,562 runs in 455 innings across all T20 competitions. In the Indian Premier League, he scored 4,965 runs in 142 matches.Gayle also holds the record for the highest individual score in IPL history. Playing for RCB against Pune Warriors India in 2013, he produced an unbeaten 175, a knock that still stands as the tournament’s best.Rohit, meanwhile, has enjoyed a remarkable career in the shortest format as well. The former India captain has scored 4,231 runs in 159 T20I matches and 151 innings, while in the IPL he has accumulated 7,046 runs from 272 matches and 267 innings.Kohli himself will soon return to action for RCB when the defending champions begin their Indian Premier League 2026 campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 28.

NEW DELHI: If assembly polls since the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 reiterated BJP’s dominance and deflated hopes of its rivals emboldened by their LS poll bump, the fresh round of electoral battle will test the party’s mettle and determine if it can build on its momentum to make new strides in regions considered most unfriendly to its overtures so far. The poll announcement comes amid the opposition’s united attack on PM Modi govt over trade agreement with the US, energy concerns due to the West Asian crisis, and SIR of electoral rolls exercise, and the elections will offer a window into the popular mood. BJP is going to the poll in Assam, where it has been in power since 2016, with confidence, and to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and especially West Bengal, with varying degrees of hope, three states it has never governed. More than Congress, it is regional parties which have proved resilient against BJP, and two of BJP’s most vocal critics, CM Mamata Banerjee in Bengal and CM M K Stalin in TN, are in the fray in this round of polls. BJP is in office in only one of the four poll-bound states, while it is part of the governing alliance in the poll-bound UT of Puducherry. Outside Assam, BJP has the highest stake in neighbouring Bengal, where it is the direct challenger to TMC, while the party has taken the lead in stitching together an alliance under AIADMK’s leadership to take on the DMK-led bloc in TN. In Kerala, the electoral battle is largely between the incumbent CPM-led LDF and the Congress-UDF, but BJP, which pulled nearly 17% of the vote share in 2024, is being seen as an X factor that will influence the final outcome. As is often the case, PM Narendra Modi has led BJP’s pre-poll outreach by mixing the launch of development programmes with political rallies in all these states, with Bengal being his last port of call, where he addressed a rally in Kolkata Saturday. BJP believes its campaign around Hindu consciousness amid concerns over infiltration and TMC’s alleged pro-Muslim politics and misrule has taken root in the state and will help make up for what it may lack in organisational machinery against its rival’s well-oiled network. The PM’s attack on the Bengal CM, that she was working to reduce Hindus to a minority in the state, was sharper than usual “appeasement” charge BJP has levelled against her. In office since 2011, Mamata has thwarted BJP after being surprised by its performance in 2019 LS election when it won its best-ever tally of 18 seats against TMC’s 22. However, its steady 38-39% vote share in the last several polls has given BJP a launchpad to make a serious and determined bid to vanquish her. Under Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP has turned the alleged infiltration from Bangladesh into a resonant poll issue in the northeastern state and mixed this with native appeal.