The Indian women’s cricket team has selected Gunalan Kamalini and Vaishnavi Sharma for their first international appearance in the upcoming five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka.The series will be hosted in India from December 21 to 30, with Visakhapatnam staging the first two matches and Thiruvananthapuram hosting the remaining three.

Seventeen-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Kamalini has played nine matches for Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League. However, Vaishnavi, aged 19, was not part of the WPL auction process.These two newcomers replace Radha Yadav and Uma Chhetri, who were part of India’s victorious ODI World Cup squad last month.The team maintains its core leadership with Harmanpreet Kaur as captain and Smriti Mandhana as vice-captain.Shafali Verma retains her place in the squad after replacing Pratika Rawal during the World Cup semifinal against Australia, when Rawal was sidelined due to injury.This T20I series is scheduled just before the WPL 2026, which begins on January 9 in Navi Mumbai.The series announcement came after the postponement of India’s scheduled white-ball series against Bangladesh in December.The most recent T20I encounter between India and Sri Lanka took place during the World Cup in October 2024.

India Women’s squad for 5-match T20I series vs Sri Lanka:

Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh Thakur, Richa Ghosh (WK), G Kamalini (WK), Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma

The Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council has finalised the roster of players who will be up for bidding at the upcoming auction in Abu Dhabi on December 16. A total of 350 cricketers have made the final shortlist and will go under the hammer as all ten franchises hunt for reinforcements ahead of the new season. While names such as Cameron Green, Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan, Jamie Smith and Quinton de Kock are driving most of the pre-auction chatter, another player has unexpectedly captured fan interest. That cricketer is Nikhil Chaudhary, an all-rounder currently based in Australia, whose presence in the ‘uncapped Indian all-rounders 5’ (UAL5) category has left many supporters scratching their heads. Chaudhary, listed with a base price of INR 40 lakh, has been registered under the Punjab Cricket Association.

Chaudhary’s cricketing journey began in India. He made his List A and T20 debuts for Punjab back in 2017, long before relocating to Australia. Now 29, he has built a substantial career in the Australian domestic structure, including the Big Bash League. Turning out for the Hobart Hurricanes, he has featured in 20 BBL matches, scoring 386 runs and claiming nine wickets. In the longer format, he has represented Tasmania in first-class cricket. He is also only the second Indian-origin player to feature in the BBL, following Unmukt Chand, having shifted his base to Australia in 2020. At this auction, teams will vie for 77 open roster slots, 31 of which are reserved for overseas signings. The highest base price remains INR 2 crore, with 40 players choosing to enter the auction at that tier. The event will begin at 2:30 PM IST next Tuesday. Initially, 1,390 cricketers had thrown their names into the ring, but only 350 made the final cut, including 240 Indians and 110 overseas players. The pool features 224 uncapped Indians and 14 uncapped overseas players. Franchise retention lists had already been announced earlier in the year.

India vs South Africa Live Score, 1st T20I: Barabati Stadium in Cuttack is set to witness a historic moment as it prepares to host its first ever red-soil pitch for an international match. Known traditionally for black-soil surfaces, the venue has taken a bold step ahead of the opening T20I between India and South Africa. A touch of red soil with a hint of grass and natural bounce promises conditions that should favour batters in a fast-paced Twenty20 contest. However, since the pitch is new, a degree of unpredictability remains and the toss decision will carry a level of risk.

Suryakumar Yadav expressed surprise at the introduction of red soil in Cuttack but backed it to play well. The India captain believes the surface could be quick, which suits his side’s approach. For India, this match is another stop in their long-term preparation for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Surya insisted that planning has been ongoing since the 2024 title win and that the current emphasis is on maintaining a consistent combination rather than overthinking strategies.

There are important points of focus for the Indian team. Shubman Gill returns from a neck injury and is set to open with the explosive Abhishek Sharma. Their partnership will be key at the top. The fitness of Hardik Pandya is also crucial, especially with India needing his all-round value. Although he missed Monday’s training after minor discomfort, he is expected to be available. With Shivam Dube likely to feature as the third seamer, Arshdeep Singh may miss out.

South Africa welcome Aiden Markram back as captain and strengthen their batting with the return of David Miller. Anrich Nortje is set for his first international appearance since the 2024 T20 World Cup final. His pace threat against Gill and Suryakumar could shape the contest. The visitors, aware that India have lost both previous T20Is against them at this venue, will feel confident.

The match promises a high-scoring affair, similar to conditions expected at the 2026 T20 World Cup. For both teams, it offers an opportunity to test combinations and build momentum ahead of a packed international calendar.

NEW DELHI: Indian pacer Shardul Thakur, who was traded to Mumbai Indians (MI) from Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 2 crore ahead of IPL 2026, said former skipper Rohit Sharma played a key role in helping him feel confident and express himself freely. The 34-year-old, part of India’s Test squad during the England tour earlier this year, is hopeful of reliving the “good old days” at his former franchise.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“Abhi aur pata chalega jab saath me baithenge toh. Kaafi masti hogi,” said Shardul, looking forward to reuniting with his “chaos partner” Rohit.

Reflecting on their bond, he added, “He made me comfortable, he allowed me to be free with him, he allowed me to express myself. We became comfortable with each other and he played a major part in it,” as quoted on the Mumbai Indians website.Shardul’s association with MI began long before his IPL career took off — back in 2010, when he joined the squad as a support bowler. He said that early exposure helped shape his cricketing journey.“I was lucky enough to experience the dressing room early in my days. I was already feeling comfortable in front of senior players. Somewhere down the line, whatever the way I was treated during Mumbai Indians camp also, that small gesture from the Mumbai Indians helped me a lot to grow in my career.“I was made to play practice games. I bowled with a new ball, so that boosted my morale and confidence to another level, and I was picking wickets.”He credited coaches Rahul Sanghvi and Paras Mhambrey for guiding him through his developmental years, but said the most surreal part was sharing space with icons.“I was seeing Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu… and I’m sharing the same dressing room with them. It was surreal,” said Shardul, who has represented India in 13 Tests, 47 ODIs and 25 T20Is since his debut in 2017.Shardul also shared memories from his younger days in Mumbai, when simply catching a glimpse of cricket royalty felt magical.“So whenever the train passed, we used to get up from our seats, come near the door, and try to sneak in and see who’s practising. Even getting a glimpse of the great Sachin Tendulkar playing, we would have been happy,” he recalled.

India women’s cricket team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has announced the cancellation of her wedding with Bollywood composer Palash Muchhal. She has requested privacy while dealing with this personal matter.Following her announcement, Mandhana shared a video on Instagram featuring herself in a mobile phone advertisement. Her caption read: “For me, calm isn’t silence – it’s control.”

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Mandhana addressed the situation through an Instagram post on Sunday, acknowledging the recent speculations about her personal life.“Over the past few weeks, there has been plenty of speculation around my life and I feel it is important for me to speak out at this time. I am a very private person and I would like to keep it that way, but I need to clarify that the wedding is called off,” she wrote on her Instagram.“I would like to close this matter here and implore all of you to do the same. I request you to please respect the privacy of both families at this time and allow us the space to process and move on at our own pace.”“I believe there is a higher purpose driving us all and for me that has always been representing my country at the highest level. I hope to continue to play and win trophies for India for as long as possible and that is where my focus will forever be. Thank you for all your support. It’s time to move forward.”The wedding was initially postponed last month when Mandhana’s father was rushed to the hospital with heart attack symptoms on the scheduled day of the ceremony.Palash Muchhal also made a statement on his Instagram account, confirming the development. He criticised those spreading baseless rumours about his personal life.The Indian cricketer, who was part of India’s victorious ICC Women’s World Cup team, has chosen not to disclose the specific reasons behind the decision.Both families have requested privacy during this time as they process the situation and move forward.Mandhana has indicated her intention to focus on her cricket career and continue representing India at the international level.ALSO READ: After wedding cancelled, Smriti Mandhana’s brother shares important update on her next move

Mitchell Marsh is likely ending his first-class cricket career with Western Australia, raising questions about his Test future, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The 34-year-old informed his WA teammates after Sunday’s Sheffield Shield match against Victoria about his plans to step away from state-level red-ball cricket. While he plans to officially retire at the season’s end, he is not expected to play any more first-class matches for WA.

Marsh has played nine Sheffield Shield matches for his state since 2019. In his recent Melbourne game, where he was considered for the Ashes, he scored just 9 and 4. The all-rounder, who started his WA career against NSW in 2009, has indicated to teammates he remains open to Test cricket if selected.His potential Test selection without Shield cricket participation presents challenges. Australia has no remaining Shield fixtures this year, and Marsh will be occupied with the national T20 team before the T20 World Cup when domestic red-ball cricket resumes.“We would be comfortable picking someone, and if you want to put a name to it, Mitch (Mitchell) Marsh, out of white-ball cricket if we felt like that was going to benefit the Test team,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said in October, as quoted from The Sydney Morning Herald.“He’s the captain of the white-ball team. It’s very hard for him to vacate and balance out Test preparation, if he was to be in the window for that,” McDonald added. “We still haven’t given up on Mitch Marsh’s Test career.”Marsh, who has faced multiple injuries, seems to be accepting that his Test career might be over. Since his 2014 debut, he has played 46 Tests, with his last appearance against India in Melbourne in 2024. Beau Webster replaced him for the Sydney Test this year.His last red-ball cricket experience was during the 2024 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where he managed only one double-digit score of 47. This followed his successful 2023 Ashes comeback featuring a memorable century. However, 2025 proved difficult with 283 runs in 15 innings, averaging 18.60 across nine Tests.His overall Test career includes 2,083 runs in 80 innings at 28.53, with three centuries and nine fifties. His highest score is 181, along with 51 wickets at 40.41. His unbeaten 118 at Headingley in the 2023 Ashes remains his career highlight.Australia’s next Test match after this summer’s Ashes will be against Bangladesh in August next year.In his first-class career spanning 122 matches, Marsh has scored 6,415 runs, including 13 hundreds and 29 fifties, while taking 171 wickets.

India’s premier all-rounder Hardik Pandya is closing in on a major T20I milestone as he gears up for the five-match series against South Africa beginning on December 9. The 32-year-old has a chance to complete the rare double of 2,000 runs and 100 wickets in the shortest format. Pandya enters the contest needing 140 more runs to touch the 2,000-run mark in T20 internationals. With the ball, he sits just two wickets short of becoming only the second Indian to claim 100 T20I wickets. At present, he is India’s third-highest wicket-taker in this format with 98 scalps at an average of 26.58. With the bat, he has scored 1,860 runs from 120 matches, averaging 27.35 with a strike rate of 141.01, including five half-centuries.

He returns to the national side after a quadriceps injury cut short his Asia Cup 2025 campaign, ruling him out of the title-winning final against Pakistan and the subsequent white-ball tour of Australia. Pandya proved his fitness in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, smashing a 42-ball 77 to help Baroda chase down Punjab in a thriller. His availability is a significant boost for India as they move closer to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The series against the Proteas begins in Cuttack on Tuesday, followed by matches in Mullanpur on December 11, Dharamsala on December 14, Lucknow on December 17 and Ahmedabad on December 19.India squad for T20I series against SA: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC)*, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington SundarNote: * Subject to fitness clearance from BCCI COE.

NEW DELHI: Out-of-favour Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has revealed that physical fatigue led him to deliberately chuck during an English County match for Surrey — a decision that eventually resulted in his ban from bowling. The left-arm spinner was barred from bowling in all competitions under the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after his action was found illegal during independent testing at Loughborough University in December last year.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The issue surfaced when umpires questioned his action during a first-class fixture for Surrey against Somerset in Taunton, where he bowled nearly 65 overs across two innings.

“I think I was doing it a little bit intentionally because I bowled more than 70 overs (in one match),” Shakib said on the Beard Before Wicket podcast.“I never bowled 70 overs in my career in a Test match. I was playing that four-day match for Surrey against Somerset in Taunton. I was so tired.”He added that he hoped for a warning before being reported.“I played back-to-back Test matches in Pakistan. We won that series and then I went to play those four-day matches. The only thing I was thinking the umpire could have done was just warn me first, at least. But it is in the rules, so they had the right. I didn’t complain.”Shakib revealed that he initially failed the correction test before working on his action.“I went to do the test, I failed. And then I saw my test. I was like, ‘okay, so these things are happening’. Then I had to train for a couple of weeks so I went back to Surrey again and they were kind enough to help me. I did two sessions and I was back to normal. I was like, ‘it’s so easy’.”Shakib, who will soon turn 39 and is a former Member of Parliament, left Bangladesh last year after Sheikh Hasina’s government was toppled. Since then, he has retired from Test cricket and has not featured in white-ball squads.He also failed a second bowling assessment in Chennai, after which BCB selectors omitted him from the Champions Trophy. The board later clarified that he remains available to play purely as a batter in both domestic and international cricket.

NEW DELHI: India’s 2-1 ODI series win over South Africa on Saturday ended with fireworks on the field — and laughter inside the dressing room — thanks to Virat Kohli’s cheeky dig at Kuldeep Yadav. While the hosts dominated the series decider in Visakhapatnam, it was a moment of light-hearted banter after the match that stole social media’s attention.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Kuldeep, who bagged nine wickets and finished as the highest wicket-taker of the series, was named Impact Player of the Series. When India bowling coach Ryan ten Doeschate invited him to speak after presenting the medal, the left-arm spinner struggled to find words. Teammates erupted into playful teasing — and Kohli led the fun with a hilarious taunt: “Ro de, ro de!” (Cry, cry!)

The entire room burst into laughter as Kuldeep shyly managed a short speech: “Nothing much to say from my side… Congrats to Virat bhai and Jaisu. He played an unbelievable innings… Yeah, let’s enjoy this.”Click to watch the dressing room videoKohli, who was named Player of the Series with 302 runs including back-to-back centuries and an unbeaten 65 in the final ODI, grinned as the shy spinner expressed his appreciation. Earlier, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal scored his maiden ODI hundred, partnering with Rohit Sharma (75) and Kohli’s composed 65 to script a nine-wicket victory.India had first restricted South Africa to 270, with both Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep picking four wickets each. Prasidh bounced back after a shaky start to dismantle South Africa’s middle order, while Kuldeep delivered yet another magical spell. For the Proteas, only Quinton de Kock resisted with a superb 106.Doeschate summed up Kuldeep’s impact perfectly: “In a series where batters dominated, the impact player is Kuldeep Yadav.”Team India now shifts focus to the five-match T20I series starting December 9 at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.

NEW DELHI: England cricket is under intense scrutiny following a 0-2 deficit in the 2025-26 Ashes series against Australia, with captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum’s ‘Bazball’ approach coming under fire. England lost both matches convincingly, with the first Test finishing in just two days and the second at the Gabba ending in an eight-wicket defeat.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Former England player Geoffrey Boycott, writing in The Telegraph, delivered a scathing critique of the team’s performance, pointing to flaws in batting, bowling, and fielding.

“After just six days of Ashes cricket, England need a miracle,” Boycott wrote.“Brisbane was a horror show: irresponsible batting, bowling too short, too wide or too full and catches dropped,” he stated, adding, “With this sort of batting and bowling, they couldn’t win an egg cup, let alone the Ashes urn.”Boycott also criticised the team’s reluctance to accept external advice despite years of preparation for Australia.“What a load of bulls—. We can’t believe anything Ben or his team say. None of them wants to listen to anyone outside of their own camp,” he wrote. “They are up their own backsides convinced that Test cricket has changed so much that only they know anything about the modern game.”He highlighted the repetitive nature of the team’s messaging.“All we ever hear from the captain is attack, and from the coach, keep the faith,” he noted.Individual performances came under fire as well, including Harry Brook and Ollie Pope.“So far in tight situations, Harry has let the team down… So far the penny has not dropped, maybe it never will,” Boycott wrote about Brook.Regarding Pope, he said: “You need to sell your wickets dearly. Too many times, Ollie gives it away…. He never learns, and he never fails to disappoint.”The bowling strategy was also criticised.“Why were we not bowling in the corridor of uncertainty… That is our strength, not bombarding the batsmen with short stuff,” Boycott wrote, while noting that Brydon Carse “was trying to knock a hole in the middle of the pitch.”He further questioned Will Jacks’ credentials as a Test player.With England needing to win the remaining three matches to reclaim the Ashes, Boycott described their ‘Bazball’ philosophy as existing in a bubble.