Ishan Kishan (Pic credit: BCCI)

NEW DELHI: Out-of-favour India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan delivered a statement performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final on Thursday, smashing a breathtaking 101 off just 49 balls to lead Jharkhand to their maiden title and finally breaking his silence on his prolonged absence from Team India.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Kishan, captaining Jharkhand, led from the front on a day to remember as his side posted a daunting 262 for 3 against Haryana before sealing a commanding 69-run victory. It marked a fitting end to a sensational tournament for the 27-year-old, who finished as the leading run-scorer with 517 runs from 10 innings at a staggering strike rate of 197.32.

Having been sidelined from the national team since 2023 following disciplinary issues under then head coach Rahul Dravid and chief selector Ajit Agarkar, Kishan admitted the phase had been mentally challenging.“When I was not selected in the Indian team, I felt quite bad because I was doing well,” Kishan was quoted as saying by Sportstar. “But I told myself that if I am not selected with this sort of performance, then maybe I have to do more. Maybe I have to make my team win. Maybe we have to do well as a unit.”

The left-hander emphasised the importance of handling frustration during setbacks. “It’s important that you don’t allow the frustration to get to you. This is my message to all the youngsters — frustration is something that will take you one step down. You need to put in a lot of hard work, believe in yourself and focus on what you need to achieve,” he said.Despite his red-hot form, Kishan is unlikely to be recalled for the upcoming T20 World Cup. However, he insisted he is no longer weighed down by expectations. “I know you fancy your chances a lot of times. And when you don’t see your name, you just feel bad about it. So, I’m not in that zone anymore. I’m not expecting anything,” he said with a smile. “But my job is to just keep performing.”In the final, Kishan tore into the Haryana bowling attack, hammering 10 sixes and eight fours, and bringing up his second century of the tournament with a stylish one-handed six over extra cover. He shared a decisive 177-run second-wicket stand with Kumar Kushagra, who struck a rapid 81 off 38 balls.Jharkhand bowlers, led by Anukul Roy, then dismantled Haryana’s chase, bowling them out for 193 despite a fighting fifty from Yashvardhan Dalal.For Kishan, the title triumph stands tall among his career highlights. “It is definitely the happiest moment because we have never won a domestic tournament under my captaincy,” he said. “Now, I have more trust in myself, more belief in my batting.”

Sunil Gavaskar slams Lionel Messi (Photo Credits: Getty Images and PTI)

NEW DELHI: Former Indian cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar has sparked debate over the Lionel Messi controversy in Kolkata, arguing that criticism of event organisers and VIP culture misses the mark; Messi himself bears primary responsibility for not upholding his obligations.In a column for Sportsstar, Gavaskar shifts scrutiny from the ongoing arrangements to Messi’s performance during his “G.O.A.T. India Tour 2025” at Salt Lake Stadium.

He notes how the narrative swiftly painted India as at fault for Messi’s unexpectedly brief stint. Gavaskar highlights the gap between fan anticipation and reality. “Even the recent episode at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata, where the Argentinian footballer, Lionel Messi, made a far shorter appearance than promised, was blamed on everyone except the person who failed to honour his commitment,” he wrote.While admitting the exact contract details between Messi’s camp and organisers remain private, Gavaskar urges restraint in condemning locals without facts. “What his agreement was is not public knowledge, but if he was meant to be at the stadium for an hour, then by leaving well before that time and disappointing fans who had paid good money, the real culprit was he and his entourage,” Gavaskar asserted.Gavaskar dismisses security concerns as an easy excuse for Messi’s quick departure, despite the swarm of politicians and VIPs around him. “Yes, he was surrounded by politicians and so-called VIPs, but there was no security threat to him or his entourage,” he further added.“Was he supposed to simply walk around the stadium, or do something tangible like take a penalty kick? If it were the latter, those around him would automatically have had to move, and the crowd would have seen their hero do what they had come to watch.”Comparing it to Messi’s other seamless India events, Gavaskar attributes their success to full delivery on promises. “So, before blaming fellow Indians in Kolkata, it might be worth checking whether commitments on both sides were honoured,” the former batter concluded.

Josh Inglis of Punjab Kings (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)

Punjab Kings co-owner Ness Wadia has publicly criticised Australia wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis, calling his conduct “unprofessional” over how and when the franchise was informed about his availability for IPL 2026. Wadia said PBKS had every intention of retaining Inglis but were left blindsided when the player communicated his limited availability just minutes before the retention deadline. According to Wadia, the problem was never Inglis’ wedding in early April, but the timing of the disclosure.

Speaking to Sportstar, Wadia said, “We didn’t really let go of Josh. Josh unfortunately only told us at the last minute, which was not very fair, given that he had been with us for a while. Everyone knew when the retention was coming, and we were informed by him 45 minutes before the deadline that he was getting married and needed time to relax and recuperate. He said he was going to be available only for a couple of weeks.” Wadia made it clear that the franchise felt short-changed after planning their retention strategy around Inglis. “We told him he should have informed us earlier. I don’t think it was very professional of him. If you know there is a deadline, you cannot call someone 45 minutes before and say you are not coming, especially when you know you are being retained,” he said. Despite the criticism, Wadia struck a conciliatory note at the end, wishing the player well. “I wish him all the best. He is a good player and I am sure he will do well for Australia. Whether he plays in the IPL or not, I wish him well as a fellow human being. But the manner in which he behaved was not very professional,” he added. Inglis’ limited availability had already become a talking point ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction. Although he initially went unsold, he later sparked a bidding war and was eventually signed by Lucknow Super Giants for INR 8.6 crore. LSG are understood to have invested in him with an eye on future seasons rather than expecting a major contribution in his short stint this year. From Inglis’ side, the situation has been addressed plainly. The batter has acknowledged that he will not be available for the full IPL 2026 season due to his wedding in early April, with the tournament scheduled to run from March 26 to May 31.

File Pic: Sachin Tendulkar

36 years ago on this day – December 18, 1989, India faced arch-rivals Pakistan at Gujranwala in the second ODI of the four-match series. A 16-year-old boy padded up to play his first limited-over match in India colours.That teenage boy was none other than legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who made his international debut a month ago in Karachi in the first Test of India’s tour to Pakistan.It was an anti-climatic start to arguably the most successful ODI career in cricket history. The teenager came to bat when India were struggling at 34/3 after Raman Lamba was run-out in their 88-run chase.

Coming to bat at No.5, Sachin failed to make an impact as he was dismissed by Waqar Younis, who also made his Test debut in the Karachi Test along with the teenage batter. Sachin faced just two balls and was out for a duck as India lost the low-scoring game by 7 runs.Little did the young boy and the world knew at that time that the teenage prodigy would end up playing 463 ODIs in a career that spanned more than two decades, scoring still the world record 18,426 runs in the format, including 49 centuries and 96 half-centuries. How Sachin Tendulkar’s debut ODI panned out in 1989India’s tour of Pakistan that year comprised four Tests and four ODIs. The two teams entered the second ODI on December 18, after drawing the Test series 0-0, that’s four drawn matches, and the first ODI abandoned without a ball being bowled in Peshawar.At Municipal Stadium, India captain Kris Srikkanth won the toss and decided to bowl first against the hosts. The visitors gave ODI debuts to not just Sachin, but to two more players – Salil Ankola and Vivek Razdan.

File Pic: Sachin Tendulkar (Getty Images)

Spinner Maninder Singh gave India a terrific start, removing Ramiz Raza and Saleem Malik in quick succession as the hosts were reduced to 22/2. Two run-outs followed – Wasim Akram and Mansoor Akhtar, and Pakistan kept losing wickets in quick succession and their innings ended at 87/9 in 16 overs – the match was a curtailed one due to rain. Saeed Anwar, coming to bat at No.5, was the sole resistance for the hosts and remained unbeaten on 42 off 32 balls, hitting two sixes and four fours.For India, apart from Maninder (2/17), debutant Salil Ankola took two wickets for 26 in four overs, with Raman Lamba finishing with figures of 1 for 9. There were as many as four run outs in Pakistan’s innings.Needing 88 to win in 16 overs, India started cautiously with the openers adding 26 runs before captain Srikkanth was bowled by Waqar Younis for 17. It opened the floodgate, with Navjot Sidhu and Lamba (10) following soon.It was then, the young Sachin came to bat for India for the first time in the ODIs. But he was undone by the bowling of Younis and was gone for a two-ball duck caught by Akram, and India were left reeling at 36/4. Like Pakistan, India too kept losing wickets at regular intervals with Mohammad Azharuddin top-scoring for the visitors at 21. Only four India batters managed to reach the double figures mark, and were restricted to 80 for 9 in their 16 overs, losing the match by 7 runs. With the win, Pakistan took a 1-0 lead in the series, which they eventually won 2-0 after the third ODI too ended without a result and the hosts winning the final match by 38 runs.

Sachin Tendulkar with Lionel Messi at Wankhede stadium.

Sachin Tendulkar’s stats in his first international seriesSachin started his international career in Tests, featuring in all four matches in Pakistan. He had a decent start to his Test career, scoring 215 runs in six innings at 35.83 average and hitting two fifties with a best score of 59, which came in his second career inning in Faisalabad after starting with a 15 in Karachi. He signed off the Pakistan Test series with his second half-century – a 57 in Sialkot.But ODI career which started with a duck, was incidentally the only limited-over match he featured in the series, in which one match was abandoned without a ball being bowled and other was deemed no result without India getting a chance to bat. Duck to most runs in ODI cricketDespite failing to open his account on debut, Sachin went on to finish his career with a plethora of records, especially in ODIs. The Little Master signed off his career as the highest run-getters in ODIs (18,426), had the longest career in the format (22 years and 91 days), scored most hundreds (49) at the time his retirement – before Virat Kohli surpassed him recently, most runs in a calendar year (1894), most hundreds in a calendar year (9), most fifty-plus scored (145) and fastest to 15000, 16000, 17000, 18000 runs in the format among others. Fun fact: The ODIs in that series were scheduled as 40-overs-a-side, even though Sachin Tendulkar’s debut match itself was reduced to 16 overs per side due to rain. In those days, the maximum number of overs in ODIs was not standardised — matches were played over 40, 50, 55 or even 60 overs. The 50-overs-a-side format became the norm only in the mid-1990s, with the 1987 World Cup in India and Pakistan being the first major tournament to formally adopt it.

A view of Ekana Cricket Stadium shrouded in dense fog (PTI Photo/Ravi Choudhary)

NEW DELHI: The BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia has confirmed that the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) will handle refunds for ticket holders after fog and poor visibility led to the abandonment of the fourth T20I between India and South Africa.The match cancellation left spectators seeking refunds. According to BCCI policy, ticket holders are entitled to reimbursement, excluding fees, when matches are cancelled without a single ball being bowled.

“That is under the domain of the state cricket association, which is UPCA. So, this game’s hosting state is the UPCA. So, they will be able to tell you about this, and they are the competent authority,” Saikia told IANS on Thursday.“Everything in ticketing is done by the state association, as the BCCI just gives them the hosting rights and all these things are taken care of and are under the domain of the state association.”The match was called off at 9:30 pm after multiple inspections by umpires K.N. Ananthapadmanabhan, Rohan Pandit, and reserve umpire JR Madanagopal failed to yield positive results.India maintains a 2-1 lead in the five-match series, with the final game scheduled at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday.The cancellation has sparked discussions about BCCI’s winter scheduling of international games, particularly as this series serves as preparation for the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup in February-March.This December match marked Lucknow’s first T20I game and now holds the record for India’s first major international match cancelled due to fog.The severe fog and hazardous Air Quality Index (AQI) conditions were evident when Hardik Pandya was seen wearing a mask on the field.“No, it is a solitary weather situation. Normally we have this kind of weather in the month of January. This time it is quite early, number one, and number two, we had a match in Dharamsala also the other day. Dharamsala is a much colder place. So you cannot predict fog, and rain. Nowadays cricket is a throughout the year annual event for 12, and we have to have the matches,” he added.“When we saw that there were big disturbances from fog in northern India in the month of January, we already restructured our domestic cricket matches. That’s why there is a big gap between Ranji Trophy matches in North India. If you look at our schedule, we have bifurcated the Ranji Trophy matches into two parts. During the first part of January, we are not scheduling any matches in North India from last year onwards, if you follow that. This Lucknow incident is an exceptional weather condition. We had three matches in North India — one in Chandigarh, Dharamshala and one in Lucknow — all are in the same build.“If we had got any sense that there will be something like this, you can take the example of rescheduling or swapping of the Test match in New Delhi. If you look at the West Indies match, the second Test was played in New Delhi. In fact, the second Test was scheduled to happen in Kolkata. The first Test match against South Africa was originally scheduled to happen in New Delhi. But when we got to know about this smog situation after Diwali, we swapped the matches of Kolkata and New Delhi. But Lucknow is an exceptional situation. It was not foreseen, and this kind of predictability is not there in weather conditions.“I don’t think Lucknow always has this kind of fog at this part of the time. Maybe in the first part of January, it is normal, but we are still in the second or third week of December. We still have 15 days time to be in that situation. That is one of the tough things we saw yesterday, and for this, we cannot have any kind of rescheduling.”

Cricketer Ishan Kishan (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)

NEW DELHI: Ishan Kishan delivered a captain’s knock of the highest order, smashing a breathtaking 101 off just 49 balls to power Jharkhand to a dominant total against Haryana in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 on Thursday. The left-hander’s assault, laced with six fours and ten towering sixes, underlined his red-hot form and capped a tournament in which he finished as the highest run-scorer.

Put in to bat after Haryana won the toss, Jharkhand lost Virat Singh early for two, but that early wicket barely slowed Kishan down. From the outset, the Jharkhand captain was in an unforgiving mood, dismantling the Haryana bowling attack with a mix of clean power and inventive strokeplay. Whether it was clearing the ropes straight down the ground or picking gaps with ease, Kishan dictated terms throughout his innings.He found an able ally in Kumar Kushagra, who played the perfect supporting role with an explosive 81 off 38 balls, striking eight fours and five sixes at a strike rate of over 213. The duo stitched together an unbeaten 177-run partnership, completely flattening Haryana’s plans and ensuring Jharkhand raced to a daunting total well ahead of the full quota of overs.Kishan reached his century in just 45 balls, a milestone that was greeted with roars from the stands as he raised his bat, acknowledging what has been a sensational tournament for him. With this knock, Kishan finished the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Elite 2025 as the leading run-getter, amassing 517 runs in 10 innings at an astonishing average of 57.44 and a strike rate close to 200. The century in the final was his second of the season and served as a reminder of his ability to dominate top-level domestic attacks. And perhaps his performances in SMAT have caught the eyes of Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir and other selectors ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Ishan Kishan (PTI Photo/R Senthil Kumar)

Out-of-favour India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan delivered a powerful reminder of his T20 credentials, hammering a stunning century to lead Jharkhand to their first-ever Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title with a dominant 69-run win over Haryana on Thursday. Kishan produced a breathtaking display of power-hitting, smashing 101 off just 49 balls, including 10 towering sixes and eight fours. His onslaught propelled Jharkhand to a massive 262 for 3, a total that proved far beyond Haryana’s reach.

After the batters set the tone, Jharkhand’s bowlers ensured there was no late twist. Medium-pacer Anukul Roy struck twice in his very first over, setting the tone for a disciplined bowling effort. Haryana were eventually bowled out for 193, despite a fighting half-century from wicketkeeper-batter Yashvardhan Dalal, who top-scored with 53. Roy also made a telling contribution with the bat, blasting 40 off just 20 deliveries, adding valuable late momentum to Jharkhand’s innings. With this victory, Jharkhand became the 12th state to lift India’s premier domestic T20 title, marking a historic moment for the team. Asked to bat first, captain Kishan anchored the innings with authority, stitching together a match-defining 177-run partnership for the second wicket with Kumar Kushagra. While Kishan dominated the bowling, Kushagra played the perfect supporting role, striking a rapid 81 off 38 balls to keep Haryana under constant pressure. The hundred was Kishan’s second of the tournament. The 27-year-old enjoyed a remarkable campaign, finishing as the leading run-scorer with 517 runs from 10 innings at an explosive strike rate of 197.32. His purple patch has come at a crucial time, with national selectors set to meet soon to finalise India’s T20I squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand and the T20 World Cup. Kishan brought up his century in style, launching a one-handed six over extra cover, before being clean bowled by Sumit Kumar in the 15th over. Kushagra followed him back to the pavilion in the very next over. Late flourishes from Anukul and Robin Minz, who chipped in with 31 off 14 balls, ensured Jharkhand finished strongly. Haryana’s chase never truly gathered momentum. They suffered a nightmare start, losing captain Ankit Kumar and Ashish Siwach for ducks to slump to 2 for 1. Dalal attempted to revive hopes, adding 34 runs with opener Arsh Ranga and later forging a 67-run stand with Nishant Sindhu, who scored 31. However, Anukul decisively swung the match Jharkhand’s way by dismissing both set batters in the same over, effectively ending Haryana’s resistance. Brief scores: Jharkhand 262/3 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 101, Kumar Kushagra 89; Sumit Kumar 1/41) beat Haryana 193 all out in 18.3 overs (Yashvardhan Dalal 53, Samant Jakhar 38; Sushant Mishra 3/21) by 69 runs.

Indian Super League trophy (ISL Photo)

NEW DELHI: The Indian Super League (ISL) clubs were on Thursday asked to submit a proposal for forming a consortium to run the 2025-26 season of the league, which is yet to begin. Representatives of all ISL clubs were invited to attend the Annual General Meeting of the All India Football Federation on Saturday, on the sidelines of which the matter was discussed.“Regarding the consortium thing, the clubs have been told to submit to the ministry their proposal so that it can be discussed during the Dec 20 AGM. But there is no guarantee,” a club representative told news agency PTI.The request followed a virtual meeting on Thursday between AIFF officials, ISL club representatives and the sports ministry. The clubs were asked to submit their proposal by Friday evening.The AIFF also informed the clubs that, under its new constitution, any amendment to its provisions could be done only after the General Body of the national federation was formed according to the new constitution itself. “It could be hotchpotch also since the new National Sports Grievance Act is likely to be implemented shortly. So there can be changes under the Act also,” a source in the know of things said.Meanwhile, the Indian Women’s League, starting December 20, will be held without a sponsor after the AIFF and Capri Sports – the lone bidder in the national federation’s tender to monetise the commercial rights of the first and second divisions of the IWL for five years – could not reach an agreement. The clubs had earlier suggested forming a consortium to resolve the ongoing commercial impasse in Indian football. The AIFF said this would require deliberations and approval by its Executive Committee and the AGM. The Marketing Rights Agreement between the AIFF and Football Sports Development Limited, which organised the ISL for 12 seasons since its inception in 2014, ended on December 8, leaving the top-tier league without a commercial framework.