Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma (BCCI Photo)

Ahmedabad: Abhishek Sharma was understandably the most talked-about cricketer at the Narendra Modi stadium here on Friday. Two days out from India’s first Super 8 match against South Africa, one could cut the tension around this colossal arena with a knife. The reason? India’s prime weapon coming into this T20 World Cup is yet to get off the mark.Friday was about preparing for a match which is going to be highly tactical.

Brothers Morne Morkel and Albie Morkel, in coaching roles for India and South Africa respectively, haven’t spoken to each other for a fortnight.Most of the drills — from the South African team’s practice in the scorching afternoon heat to Abhishek taking guard with bat in the nets at the fag end of the day — revolved around left-handers.South Africa captain Aiden Markram, off-spinner George Linde, Keshav Maharaj and the pace attack spent over an hour practicing bowling to left-handers in the nets with assistant coach Albie Morkel taking stance at the batting end.Abhishek may have not got going but he still instills fear in the opposition camp.Markram has played enough cricket with and against Abhishek in the IPL to know the damage he can cause to South Africa on Sunday.However, it’s not just about Abhishek.In pursuit of striking the right balance, India ended up with a deluge of left-handers in the batting lineup.Naturally, the off-spinners came into play.Maharaj kept firing full deliveries outside the offstump while pacers Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi frequently switched between bowling from over the wicket to bowling from round the wicket.After India’s last match against the Netherlands, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate did concede the team’s rather submissive performance against the finger spinners in the tournament.South Africa is a professional enough unit to work on further exposing India’s supposed frailties with the bat.There may be murmurs around India becoming too predictable by stacking their batting with too many left-handers.It wasn’t surprising when Abhishek did get into the nets, after a long chat with head coach Gautam Gambhir.He spent a lot of time batting against the spinners.There was much restraint instead of wild swinging.It was back to basics for him even against the seamers.The big shots came rarely off his bat.“Luckily, there’s been someone standing up for Abhishek. But we are in the important phase of the tournament. I am sure, not just for the team but for the viewers, he will come good because of the entertainment he offers,” India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel said on Friday evening.It’s strange how a batting lineup which went about ruthlessly assaulting bowling attacks barely a month ago has suddenly started to look a tad vulnerable going into the business end of the tournament.The first round of matches — three against the associate nations of the ICC — were meant to iron out the chinks.Instead, India go into the Super 8 stage still reworking their strategies.“That’s been the makeup of the team coming into this World Cup. The opposition bowlers will still have sleepless nights,” Morne said of the team composition.“We know the South African bowlers will be working on taking the ball away from the left-handers. So, we will prepare for that,” he added.Thus, India’s nets session under lights for the next three hours focused on what the South Africans and the teams going forward would throw at them.Ishan Kishan, in the dreamiest phase of his career, looked more intent on driving and punching off the backfoot through the off side.Arshdeep Singh hung around that line for much of Ishan’s batting stint.The spinners stuck to the off-stump line to the lefthanders.Tilak Varma, not at his fluent best yet in the tournament, moved to the practice pitches outside the stadium with throwdown specialists just to work on the off-side game.

Punjab Kings has had a one week preparatory camp in Abu Dhabi from February 8 to 14.

NEW DELHI: Some Indian Premier League (IPL) teams have begun preparations for the 2026 season. Shubman Gill, having missed out on the T20 World Cup, has joined his Gujarat Titans teammates. So has Rajasthan Royals‘ Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after his heroics in the U-19 World Cup.What is peculiar, however, is the choice of venues these, and other, teams made for their pre-season camps. The Delhi Capitals travelled to Hyderabad. The Kolkata Knight Riders were at Shivaji Park in Mumbai. The Rajasthan Royals are at their Academy in Talegaon, Nagpur. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru were stationed at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The Punjab Kings, bafflingly, held their training camp at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The rest of the teams have not begun their training for the 19th edition of the IPL. Mumbai Indians players currently not involved in the T20 World Cup and the Ranji Trophy final are expected to start with the DY Patil T20 Tournament.It is unfathomable that the IPL franchises could not find suitable training facilities in their own city or state. Even if we account for some venues being reserved for the T20 World Cup, it is hard to explain how Gujarat Titans, for example, could not find facilities in Baroda, Saurashtra or Surat. Or how PBKS couldn’t set camp in Mullanpur, Mohali or Dharamsala. Similarly, DC had potential options like the GMR Aerocity Ground or Palam, which BCCI uses for its own tournaments.This is equivalent to Londoners Arsenal going to Manchester United’s Carrington complex to prepare for the English Premier League season.At a time when the continued objective for the IPL franchises should be to grow the league, stay connected with their home fans and build team culture, the last thing you do is fly away hundreds of kilometres.With the IPL 2026 nearly four weeks away, this is the perfect juncture for franchises to start doing their groundwork. Let the fans trickle in and make some noise. All things considered, a cricket fan in Australia, for example, knows well in advance where their respective Big Bash League team will play and some of the more enthusiastic ones would arrive in droves even for the practice sessions.Instead, the IPL franchises and the powers that be are alienating their supporter base even further. How does it even augur well for the IPL as a brand that its teams are deciding to practice tens of thousands of kilometres away instead of having a fixed footing in the city they call home?This also comes at a time when some IPL franchises don’t even have a confirmed home base for when the season gets underway in the last week of March. As TimesofIndia.com reported, defending champions RCB have been asked to “exhaust other options first” before considering DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai as home.While not yet officially confirmed, it took weeks of jostling for the Rajasthan Royals to agree to host four of their home games in Jaipur and the rest in Guwahati.Besides them, the Punjab Kings have regularly played their home games in New Chandigarh and Dharamsala. The Delhi Capitals have called both Visakhapatnam and Delhi ‘home’ in a single IPL season.The entire idea of franchises playing at two different venues as ‘home’ is disrespectful to the original city. It negates the prospect of fan engagement, something that, evidently, is starting with the training sessions themselves.KKR mentor Dwayne Bravo stressed the importance of fans last season as controversy erupted over franchises not getting favourable pitches.

“What helps with the home advantage is the fans. I think that is more important than how the pitch plays. I can’t really comment much on the pitches but once the fans enter the game, cheer us on, that makes a difference,” Bravo had said.Former India player Aakash Chopra concurred. “Home advantage is real, and that comes in only two forms: one is the surface that you choose and the second is the crowd support that is there. Other than that, it’s an away game.”However, if franchises continue to treat cities as interchangeable pit stops, the IPL risks becoming a travelling spectacle with no real home.

Hardik Pandya and Mahieka Sharma (Image credit: Instagram)

NEW DELHI: Indian star allrounder Hardik Pandya made Mahieka Sharma’s 25th birthday special with a heartfelt Instagram post — but it was Mahieka’s reply that truly stole the spotlight.Pandya shared an unseen video of the couple celebrating together, capturing candid moments of laughter, warm hugs and hand-in-hand strolls in an outdoor setting illuminated by fireworks. The clip ended on a romantic note, with the couple releasing a floating lantern into the night sky.

He captioned the video, “Happy birthday, my princess .”Pandya also added an emotional message: “Thank you for coming into this world 25 years ago. You are the most amazing person I know. I love you .”Mahieka’s response quickly grabbed attention. Replying to Pandya’s post, she wrote, “You’re my best gift this year .”Taking it a step further, Mahieka shared a beautiful collage featuring special moments with Pandya and poured her heart out in the caption.“I love my man. Thank you baby for the best birthday ever. I am the luckiest girl in the world,” she said.The couple has made several public appearances together in recent months. Earlier this year, they attended the United in Triumph event in Mumbai, walking hand in hand and twinning in black outfits as they posed for the cameras. Pandya had confirmed their relationship in October 2025, shortly after dating rumours began circulating. Since then, the two have been spotted at the Mumbai airport and on vacations together.

Pandya was previously married to actor Natasa Stankovic. The couple tied the knot in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and welcomed their son Agastya on July 30, 2020. Their separation was confirmed in July 2025 following months of speculation.In a joint statement at the time, they said: “After four years together, Natasha and I have decided to mutually part ways. We tried our best and gave it our all, and we believe this is in the best interest of both of us. This was a tough decision to make, given the joy, mutual respect, and companionship we shared as we built a family together.”

After returning figures of 4/27 to earn the Player of the Match award, Adam Zampa conceded that Australia’s emphatic nine-wicket win over Oman did little to soften the blow of their early exit from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.“To be honest, it has been a rough few days for us,” Zampa said after the match. “The voice in our changeroom has been pretty quiet as we are very disappointed that our World Cup is ending so soon,” he said.

Captain Mitchell Marsh capped the group stage with a blazing half-century as Australia signed off on a high, underlining their superiority over Oman. Zampa led the charge with the ball in what was a one-sided contest from start to finish, but the dominant display could not alter Australia’s fate in the tournament.Having opted to field first, Australia bundled Oman out for 104 in 16.2 overs. Zampa ripped through the middle order to derail the innings, while Glenn Maxwell, Xavier Bartlett, Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Ellis ensured there was no way back.Despite his four-wicket haul, Zampa reflected candidly on his overall campaign. “I think that I could’ve done more in that Sri Lanka game. My contribution in that game was not good at all. I think that I could’ve done better in that game. My job is to get wickets through the middle,” he said.Australia then chased down the modest 105-run target in just 9.4 overs, with Marsh smashing 64 off 33 balls and Travis Head adding 32 off 19 in a 93-run opening stand. But individual success offered little consolation to Zampa.“You would always like to have wickets rather than not having. I am not thinking about that much. I am disappointed that our tournament ended today.“We have built this squad in the last few years, but we failed to do our jobs right,” he added.

Netherlands’ players celebrate the wicket of Pakistan’s Shadab Khan during the T20 World Cup in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (AP/PTI)

New Delhi: During the 2016 T20 World Cup, the then Netherlands captain Peter Borren, in one of the press conferences, was almost in tears and made an emotional plea to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to spend more on the Associates. “There is a sort of malaise towards Associate cricket. To grow further in the game, we always hear it is not commercially viable,” he had said.“Look at Indian television, highlights of us beating England are everywhere. Clearly, fans enjoy watching new teams succeed. So give us the opportunity. Let us compete, and let us be seen,” he had said, referring to the highlights of the Netherlands beating England in the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup.

Cut to the present, the noise is again getting louder, with Associates pushing Full Members to the edge, and it all started with the Netherlands again.Pakistan had slipped from 98/2 to 114/7 while chasing 148 against the Netherlands. Max O’Dowd dropped a catch in the penultimate over, and Faheem Ashraf became the hero with three sixes and two fours.India had a disastrous start against the USA and were reeling at 63/4 by the 10th over. Shubham Ranjane got down low but could not hold on to a Suryakumar Yadav catch. Surya went on to score a match-defining 84 off 49 balls.Having earlier reduced England to 57/3, Nepal eventually restricted them to 184/7. During the chase, they were 175/5, needing 10 runs off seven balls. Lokesh Bam was well set on 35 off 15 balls. Over the next four deliveries, Bam scored just three runs and England scraped through after a tight final over from Sam Curran.Scotland, who replaced Bangladesh, had England on the ropes as Tom Banton and Will Jacks occupied the crease in their chase of 153. Things had slowed to near run-a-ball over the previous three overs, and England now needed eight off the final six balls. Jacks then struck a six and a four to take them past the finish line.

United States’ Shubham Ranjane (L) reacts after dropping a catch of India captain Suryakumar Yadav (R) during the T20 World Cup in Mumbai. (AP)

A couple of days later, England were 105/5 in the 13th over against Italy before eventually posting a strong 202. During the chase, Italy surged to 173/7 following 34 runs in two overs. Grant Stewart was set on 44 off 20 balls. The first-timers needed 30 off the last 12 deliveries. Sam Curran then removed Stewart, crushing their hopes.Not as dramatic perhaps, but Afghanistan got past the UAE in the final over, while the Netherlands pushed India despite looking down and out at one stage.Before the India vs Netherlands game, a broadcaster arrogantly parroted the pre-tournament claim that a 300-run total would be breached. Instead, the Men in Blue posted 193/6, restrained by Logan van Beek’s three-wicket haul.The eight Associate teams have made themselves count at this T20 World Cup and have not been the pushovers many expected them to be. The gap, as is repeated every two years, is reducing between the Associates and the Full Member nations.The reason for results going unfavourably for the Associates can be attributed quite simply to the lack of top-level opportunities and the inability to absorb pressure at key moments.

“Until you play matches, you won’t be in those situations. No matter how much net practice you do, how do you come out of tight situations like 80/5? Or how do you win a match if you need 30 runs in the last two overs? You won’t feel it until you experience it on the ground,” said UAE coach Lalchand Rajput.“The more matches you play against good teams, the more situations you face. You might win only one out of five games, but it builds confidence that the next time you are in the same situation, you will be able to win,” he added.Namibia coach Craig Williams, too, didn’t mince his words and has asked for more matches for the associates, if the ICC wants to make the sport global.“I think it’s not rocket science. If you play more cricket, you’re going to get better. And especially if you play more competitive cricket. So I think all the associate nations are calling out for the same thing. It’s been a number of years since I was playing as well,” he had said ahead of their last match against Pakistan in Colombo.Players, coaches and even administrators have urged the ICC to introduce more fixtures in the next Future Tours Programme.

Italy’s Grant Stewart hits a six during the T20 World Cup cricket match against England in Kolkata. (AP)

“There should be more matches, and definitely the ICC is working on it. That’s why this T20 World Cup has 20 teams. Hopefully, it will keep growing and more Associates will follow. If we qualify for the World Cup, we should get bigger chances to showcase ourselves,” Rajput said.Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar agreed. “If there is one thing I would like to change, it would be Associate countries getting more opportunities to compete against the best nations because that is the learning ground. That is where you learn,” he said after their loss to Afghanistan.Netherlands all-rounder Bas de Leede used the World Cup stage to remind everyone that his team has no cricket scheduled until June, with their next assignment being a World Cup qualifier.“We’ve shown the level Associate cricket is at right now. We can only ask for more opportunities against big teams because that is ultimately how we are going to improve as a collective,” said De Leede.The challenge of finding space in the calendar and the financial hurdles involved are not lost on those advocating for more matches.“The calendar doesn’t allow more matches with Full Members because Associate countries mostly play among themselves. It is also about TV rights, media and sponsorship, as everyone focuses on the top 10 teams. They have challenges as well. But this World Cup has shown that Associate countries are good enough to receive more funding and play more matches,” Rajput said.De Leede also offered a solution.“I understand the financial reasoning, but maybe a tri-nation series involving two Full Members could be an option. I recently saw a post about a European T20 series involving England, Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Italy,” he said.“We saw how close Italy pushed England. There are a lot of options. Normally during the World Cup, it gets attention and then it fades away,” he added.History, though, does not look promising.After reaching the Super Eight stage and becoming one of the stories of the 2024 T20 World Cup, the USA did not play a single Full Member until this edition came around.The Netherlands, who reached the Super 12 of the 2022 T20 World Cup and shocked South Africa, did not play a single T20I between that day in Adelaide and a match against Nepal 479 days later in February 2024. Their only game against a Full Member in that period came against Ireland in the build-up to the 2024 edition.T20 leagues bridging the gap

USA’s Andries Gous, of Desert Vipers, celebrates after scoring a hundred during Qualifier 1 of the ILT20 match against MI Emirates. (Creimas)

A major reason for improved performances, despite the lack of opportunities at the highest level, can be attributed to the growth of T20 leagues. More leagues mean more demand for players and more platforms for Associate cricketers to showcase their skills. USA wicketkeeper-batter Andries Gous underlined this with an unbeaten 120 for Desert Vipers against MI Emirates in the recently concluded ILT20.Curran, who helped keep two Associates at bay, acknowledged that more matches play a role. “The Associate nations are playing more often and getting much better. They are being exposed to better cricket and better grounds,” he said.UAE captain Muhammad Waseem, who plays for MI Emirates in the ILT20, shared dressing rooms with the likes of Rashid Khan, Chris Woakes, Kieron Pollard, Shakib Al Hasan, Jonny Bairstow and Nicholas Pooran ahead of the T20 World Cup.“We’ve learned to improve by playing alongside the best players in leagues. In the same way, if we play Test-playing nations, we will continue to get better. Then, in big tournaments, you will get even more competitive matches,” he told TimesofIndia.com.The presence of experienced heads in the dugout has helped as well.Stuart Law is the head coach of Nepal. Ian Harvey is the bowling consultant. Gary Kirsten is Namibia’s consultant. Rajput brings his wealth of experience from the Indian dressing room to the UAE. Duleep Mendis heads Oman, while Pubudu Dassanayake coaches the USA.Having done all they can on the field, the Associates can only hope they receive more opportunities before the next edition rolls around. Otherwise, the same conversations and pleas will be repeated in Australia and New Zealand.