Sports
Jaiswal’s Ton and Kohli-Rohit Fifties Powered India to Crush South Africa by 9 Wickets to Seal One-Day Series 2-1
India wrapped up the series 2-1 with a convincing 9-wicket win over South Africa in Visakhapatnam. Opting to bowl first, India’s spin maestro Kuldeep Yadav and pace sensation Prasidh Krishna combined to restrict South Africa to 270. Quinton de Kock’s brilliant century had given the Proteas a solid start, but India’s bowlers applied the brakes hence they were restricted under 270 runs, something that in the early stages of the match looked inevitable. Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav and the pacer Prasidh Krishna claiming four wickets each.
Chasing a modest 271, India’s top order was in top form. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a sensational maiden ODI ton, while Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli added to the momentum. The partnership between Jaiswal and Kohli steered India to a comfortable victory, finishing the game with 61 balls to spare.
And with 360 watt smile, Captain KL Rahul pick up the series trophy, proudly.
The camera zoom to SA Captain Temba Bavuma who is calm and composed as always. Captain KL Rahul steps to the Indian winning team standing behind the winners hoarding. Hand over the trophy to Yashawi Jaiswal who lift it high to the sky with a confident smile and the entire team proudly pose for the cameras. The icon Virat Kohli is busy entertaining which draws big smiles from teammates. Afterwards the coach and the support staff join for the photo sessions.
KL Rahul | India captain:
The first was the toss, I don’t think the team has looked at me and smiled so much and have been more proud of me for doing anything other than winning this toss. Yeah, it was really crucial. You can see how the ground is at the moment. We got tough conditions in the first two games. So, it was good to give the bowlers a break in a wet outfield. On the surface It was still a really good wicket,
what we were able to do was pick up wickets in bunches.
And we know with teams that go so hard, it can either be a 400 chase or sometimes play one too many shot and get out and that’s what happened. We were able to squeeze in the middle. Prasidh picked up those two or three wickets in a spell which was really crucial. And then Kuldeep coming in, picking two wickets in an over. So, in ODI cricket, that’s how you try and contain teams.
That’s how you can win games of cricket – picking up wickets. That’s the only way you can stop teams. The way he (de Kock) was batting, when he get out, it was 180 or something and he was already batting on 120. It shows that the set batter obviously felt the wicket was a bit different. For guys coming in, it was much harder. So, it was a really crucial wicket at that point.
Commentator : Happy with the series?
Yeah, that’s most pleasing thing about the series is how we’ve been able to hold our nerve and how we’ve been able to handle the pressure. In all the games, the batters from South Africa have been able to come in with that sort of an intent to come and put our bowlersunder pressure. And the bowlers have really held their nerve. One result that didn’t go our way. But like I said, in the toss, we’re not really
upset or not really thinking too much about it. Because I think the stuff that we’ve been doing, the planning that we’ve done and the processes that they’ve followed and they’ve been consistent with that. So, today was one instance where doing the same thing paid off.
Virat Kohli | Player of the Series:
Honestly, playing the way I have in the series is the most satisfying thing for me. I feel really free in my mind. I haven’t played like this in 2-3 years. I know when I can bat like that in the middle, it helps the team a long way. Makes me confident, any situation in the middle, I can handle that and bring it in favor of the team. When you play for that long – 15-16 years, you do doubt yourself. Especially as a batter when one mistake can get you out.
It’s a whole journey of getting better and getting better as a person along the way. It improves you as a person and it improves temperament as well. I’m just glad that I’m still able to contribute to the team.
When I play freely, I know I can hit sixes. There’s always levels you can always unlock. The first one at Ranchi – because I hadn’t played a game since Australia. Just how your energy is on the day, Ranchi is very special for me and I’m very grateful as to how these three games have gone.
It’s always brought the best of us – that’s what we want to play for. When it’s 1-1, we want to do something special for the team. That’s why we have played for the team for so long. Just happy that both of us continue to do it for so long.
Yashaswi Jaiswal | Player of the Match:
Commentator : Big burden off the chest on registering his maiden ODI hundred?
Yes, of course. I really enjoyed it.
I’m really grateful and blessed. (On his chat with Rohit while batting) We have been chatting a lot about how we can play and how we can set the target and what tempo we can play. So, I’m trying to understand. I had starts in last two games but I couldn’t convert.
So, we have been speaking how we can convert this and how we balance this inning. I was just thinking how I can balance the inning. So, sometimes I need to be attacking and sometimes I was thinking, okay, maybe I’ll take a single or I’ll run the game. So, that was my plan and it was pretty good. I have to control my thoughts on where I can play, what shot I can play and how I can play as deep as possible. And with keeping that in my mind that if it requires, I need to go after the bowlers.
Virat paaji, the minute he came, he started playing a lot of shots and we kept chatting as well. He kept giving me small targets that I need to focus on. So, it was helping me towards my goal as well. So, I really enjoyed it.
Temba Bavuma | South Africa captain:
We would have wanted to make it a lot more exciting today. From a batting point of view, we didn’t have score runs. It tends to get easier under lights. Probably should have been smarter as we gifted wickets. The Indian team showed their quality – kudos to them.
We could have been a lot more smarter, if you look the first two ODIs, we did that.
Probably today, the conditions were different. You never want to get bowled out in a 50-over game. Couple of starts, Quinton got his 100 and I did but fell. We have definitely grown, we speak a lot about how we want to play. India have quality spinners and it’s never easy to put them under pressure. For large parts of the series we did that. I think if there were 10 boxes, we ticked 6 or 7 of them.
Pacer Prasidh Krishna:
Commentator : On his turnaround after getting punished in his first 2 overs?
It was really hard for me because there were a couple of really poor balls and a couple of really good shots. I actually sat back and then thought, ‘what’s going on, what’s the way for me to get back?’ I had to come back in, I had to bowl my overs and that’s the good thing about cricket for us as well.
If you have a bad spell, you always get another spell to come in and all that I thought was, bring the stumps in play, try and make sure I don’t give them any room or length to get under and it kind of worked out.
Commentator : Conditions more bowling-friendly today?
I would say so, yes, but then I wouldn’t really blame it on the dew or the pitch being any harder in the last couple of games as professionals, I think we are expected to face tough challenges and as bowlers, we would always want to overcome them. A lot of credit goes to Arshdeep and Harshit the way they started. Harshit also, when he came back in that spell, he made sure he kept it really quiet, didn’t really try a lot of things and that was the pressure in itself and then for Kuldeep to come on and pick those wickets …
Overall, if you look at the three games, I think we have done well as a bowling unit. I was under a bit of pressure definitely after the last game. The talk was just about what went wrong, what can we do better and it was pretty clear because I know what I can do, I know the areas that I can bowl. It’s just about turning up on that day and making sure you keep them simple, be calm and give yourself the best chance to execute them.
The batting has always been good, they have been batting really well and for us to do it in the way that we did today is special. It was due that Rohit had to get a bog score and Yashasvi as well, he has been working hard in the nets and all of us know what the King can do.
It’s good to be having such good batters on our side.
India vs South Africa 3rd ODI
Indian skipper KL Rahul won the toss and opted to bowl first against South Africa’s Temba Bavuma in the last match of the three-match ODI series at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Saturday 3rd Dec 2025.
Teams:
South Africa (Playing XI):
Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock (W), Temba Bavuma (C), Matthew Breetzke, Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman
India (Playing XI):
Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (C & W/C), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna
Just when cricketing fans were getting excited about the 2026 ICC T20I World Cup, a major demand has come out of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has made it clear that their T20I cricket squad is not comfortable travelling to India due to security reason for their ICC T20I World Cup slated matches.
Yes, you read that right—Bangladesh may not play any of its scheduled World Cup matches in India.
The whole issue erupted after star pacer Mustafizur Rahman was ruled out of the IPL tournament by the
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), due to security concerns reportedly playing a major role.
This decision of BCCI didn’t go down well with the BCB, and things heightened further from there. According to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), the safety of players, support staff, journalists, and travelling Bangladeshi fans is their top priority.
Following a thorough assessment of the prevailing situation and the growing concerns regarding the safety and security of the Bangladesh contingent in India and considering the advice from the Bangladesh Government, the Board of Directors resolved that the Bangladesh National Team will not travel to India for the tournament under the current conditions.
In light of this decision, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has formally requested the International Cricket Council (ICC), as the event authority, to consider relocating all of Bangladesh’s matches to a venue outside India.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)’s statement was announced two hours after Bangladesh’s sports adviser, Asif Nazrul supported the board’s decision of reluctance to travel to India.
“The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has decided not to send the Bangladesh team to India for the World Cup,” he posted on his official Facebook page. “We welcome this decision taken in the context of the radical communal policies of the Indian cricket board.”
In an official statement, the board has now requested the ICC to move all Bangladesh matches out of India, possibly to Sri Lanka.
A Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official summed it up straight: “If security can’t be guaranteed for one Bangladeshi player, how can it be guaranteed for an entire team?” Strong words—but ones that show how serious the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is about this entire episode.
What adds more fuel to the fire is that India and Sri Lanka are co-hosting the ICC T20I World Cup 2026, and unlike earlier tournaments, there is no mixed model in place.
If the ICC agrees to Bangladesh’s request, it could open up a whole new set of logistical and scheduling problems. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has also written to the BCCI, asking for clarification on why Mustafizur was released from the IPL squad after Bangladesh was earlier
requested to make him available for the auction.
Interestingly, this letter doesn’t talk about security—those concerns have been taken straight to the ICC. As of now, the ICC has not made a final decision. For cricket enthusiasts, this situation raises big questions. Will Bangladesh’s matches be shifted entirely to Sri Lanka?
Could this affect the tournament schedule? And most importantly—will the sentiments, arising due to the volatile situation be linked to existing political tensions between India and Bangladesh, with India’s foreign ministry having previously condemned brutality towards Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and will security concerns overshadow the sporting spirit of cricket itself?
With the World Cup just a months away, one thing is without a doubt: the road to the ICC T20I World Cup 2026 is already getting on bumpy road.
Sports
Renuka Struck, Deepti Controlled, Shafali Finished : India Outclass Sri Lanka To Seal Series 3–0
At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti.
India Outclass Sri Lanka To Seal Series 3–0 with a dominant eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the third T20I. Winning the toss, India decided to bowl first.
Image Courtesy : BCCI
Sri Lankan openers Hasini Perera and Chamari Athapaththu were looking confident, with Perera taking the lead with aggression, striking two boundaries off Renuka, who returned to the Indian Women XI squad in place of Arundhati Reddy, in the first over.
In the 5th over, bowler Deepti Shrama bowled Athapaththu, who attempted a cross-batted shot and top-edged to mid-on, handing Deepti her first wicket. Renuka turned the strict line and length bowling in her second over, tempting opener Perera to hook one straight to the fielder, Deepti Shrama. Perera bowled for 25 off 18. Renuka also got batter Harshitha Samarawickrama caught and bowled off her final ball delivery.
And from this moment onward, the match swung in favour of India with the continuous fall of Sri Lankan Batters’ wicket.
Image Courtesy : BCCI
Today, Indian women bowlers, Renuka Singh Thakur’s 4-21 and Deepti Sharma’s 3-18, rattled Sri Lanka’s batting lineup, reducing them to a low score of 112/7 in 20 overs.
In the second inning, Indian opener Shafali Verma led the strike with a blazing start, smashing all over the stadium with sixes and boundaries. She, along with Harmanpreet Kaur, lead India to a comfortable victory with 40 balls to spare. Shefali’s 79 not out off 42 balls shows her true grit and glory.
Today, Renuka’s pace bowling with line and length and Deepti’s precision variation were key to India’s dominance over Sri Lankan batters, while Shafali Varma’s daring batting clinched the deal in favour of India.
With this win, India has taken an unshakable 3-0 lead in the five-match T20I series, with two games remaining. Sri Lanka will re-work strategies to challenge India in the remaining matches of the series around, but India, after clinching the series is unflappable and fearless.
The hosts’ next focus will be on finishing the series on a impressive note with a 5-0 win over.
After India won, here are a few comments on the match.
Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka Captain)
“We haven’t played our best cricket, and we’ve struggled with batting consistency. We’ve backed this lineup for six months, but we need to find balance in this format. We’re trusting our youngsters and trying different things with the bowling unit. Dulani and Kavisha showed promise with solid innings, giving us encouraging signs. We’ll keep working on combinations ahead of the World Cup.”
Harmanpreet Kaur (India Captain)
“We had a great series, raising our standards and being aggressive in T20Is with the World Cup near. Really happy with our performance. Our bowlers did a fantastic job, they’re the reason we’re in this position. They’ve been giving us crucial breakthroughs, especially in the powerplay. Renuka’s comeback and four-wicket haul was a game-changer.”
Renuka Singh Thakur (Player of the Match)
“I’m happy with four wickets, but I know I can do better. I’ve had a five-wicket haul before, so I’m working harder to get there again. I focus on variation, especially for T20 cricket and big tournaments. My first over wasn’t great, but I knew I had to bounce back-that’s what bowlers do. The team’s support, especially the captain’s belief in me, keeps me motivated to push harder.”
Image Courtesy : BCCI
Player of the Match : Renuka Singh Thakur
Match : INDW vs SLW • 3rd T20I • Sri Lanka Women tour of India 2025
Series : Sri Lanka Women tour of India 2025
Toss : India Women won the toss and opt to Bowl
Venue : Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Umpires : Gayathri Venugopalan, N Janani
3rd Umpire : Vrinda Rathi
Referee : GS Lakshmi
India Women Team
Players : Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh Thakur, Shree Charani
Reserve : G Kamalini, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana, Arundhati Reddy
Support Staff : Amol Muzumdar, Aavishkar Salvi, Munish Bali
Sri Lanka Women Team
Players : Chamari Athapaththu (Captain), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Nimesha Madushani, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Imesha Dulani, Kaushani Nuthyangana (wk), Malsha Shehani, Inoka Ranaweera, Malki Madara
Reserve : Shashini Gimhani, Kawya Kavindi, Rashmika Sewwandi, Vishmi Gunaratne
Support Staff : Rumesh Ratnayake
Reigning champion India became the first team to announce their 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
The BCCI Men’s Selection Committee under Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar has announced India’s squad for the upcoming five-match IDFC First Bank T20I series against New Zealand slated for January 2026 and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 slated for February 2026, respectively.
India’s squad for T20I series against NZ announced & ICC Men’s T20 World Cup:
Batters : Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh,
All-rounders: Axar Patel (Vice Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Washington Sundar, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana
Wicket-Keepers : Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK)
Bowlers : Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
India Team Squad. Image Courtesy : JIOHotStar
The announcement was followed by a press conference at the BCCI HQ.
When asked about the inclusion of two wicket-keepers, the chief selector, Ajit Agarkar has made it clear today that India will be playing a wicket-keeper as one of its openers.
Considerably, Sanju Samson will likely be positioned at the top of the order, while Ishan Kishan, who last played for India in 2023, has earned a comeback to the World Cup national squad as the reserve top-order batter after almost two years, thanks to his domestic form.
He recently finished as the top run scorer at the 2025 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 517 runs, averaging nearly two a ball, guiding Jharkhand state to their maiden SMAT title.
Shubman Gill’s 28-ball 47- run score against Pakistan at the 2025 Asia Cup, which marked his return to the T20I side, remains a rare standout in an otherwise inconsistent run. Hence, Gill has been dropped from the India squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Axar Patel takes over his position as vice-captain.
One man who will be overjoyed and surprised is Rinku Singh, who makes a comeback to the squad.
When asked about the selection of Rinku Singh, the selector said that “the left-hander has been in fantastic domestic form and put his opportunities in the India team to good use as well.” He will likely be competing with Washington Sundar in strengthening a spot in the lower-order batting lineups.
Ahead of the forthcoming T20 World Cup, India Vs NZ T20I schedule :
1st T20I: January 21, 2026, at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur (7:00 PM IST).
2nd T20I: January 23, 2026, at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur (7:00 PM IST).
3rd T20I: January 25, 2026, at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati (7:00 PM IST).
4th T20I: January 28, 2026, at Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam (7:00 PM IST).
5th T20I: January 31, 2026, at Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram (7:00 PM IST).
Details of the 2026 T20 World Cup:
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 will be the 10th edition of the world cricket T20 tournament. The upcoming World Cup will feature top 20 international teams. These teams have been Split into four groups of five teams each for the group-stage internal competition.
India has been placed in Group A of the T20 World Cup 2026, alongside Pakistan, the USA, the Netherlands, and Namibia.
The group are expected to have high-intensity clashes, especially the much-hyped India vs. Pakistan match, which is always one of the most viewed clashes between India and Pakistan in world cricket.
In Group A, to regain its crown, the reigning champion Indian cricket team’s T20 World Cup 2026 schedule is :
- India vs USA : February 7, 2026 at Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai)
- India vs Namibia : February 12, 2026 at Arun Jaitley Stadium (Delhi)
- India vs Pakistan : February 15, 2026 at R. Premadasa Stadium (Colombo)
- India vs Netherlands : February 18, 2026 at Narendra Modi Stadium (Ahmedabad)
The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 final is staged for March 8, with Ahmedabad set to host unless Pakistan qualifies, in which case Colombo will stage the final title match.
The tournament is expected to attract a whopping global viewership, especially from India, Australia, New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Gulf, and the Africa region, as well as the USA, with fans eagerly awaiting to watch every stage from the group matches to the grand finale.
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