Dinesh Karthik has vouched for young pacer Harshit Rana‘s selection in the Indian Test team following his breakout season with the ball in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Harshit picked 19 wickets in 13 matches to help Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) win their third IPL title earlier this year. The 22-year-old also impressed with the ball in the first round match of the Duleep Trophy, taking four wickets for India D in the first innings of the match against and India C. He took another four-fer in the second round match against India A.

However, Harshit didn’t find a place in India’s squad for the two-match Test series against Bangladesh. In a recent interaction, Karthik praised Harshit and said that the selectors could have considered him for the 1st Test against Bangladesh.

“I just thought, could there have been a spot for Harshit? I felt he bowled well and there is something really special about him. But they already have four good medium pacers,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

With India set to tour Australia later this year for five Tests, Karthik urged the selectors to pick him for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, adding that the youngster can make a difference with his bowling Down Under.

“Harshit Rana. He has special skills, a good backspin on the ball, kisses off the pitch, and is a very talented fast bowler. I really wish they take him to Australia because he will make a difference there,” he added.

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has picked four seamers for the 1st Test against Bangladesh. Young pacers Akash Deep and Yash Dayal were added to the squad as back ups to Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

Indian squad for first Test against Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, and Yash Dayal.

Trolled and ridiculed when he was first signed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru, left-arm pacer Yash Dayal has done very well in burying the ghosts of his Gujarat Titans stint. Dayal was one of the star performers for RCB last season in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and now, his domestic cricket performances have earned him his maiden call-up to India’s Test team. Recalling his journey, Dayal revealed how Virat Kohli helped him settle when he first arrived at RCB, especially as he came up against the mighty MS Dhoni when playing against Chennai Super Kings.

Dayal, in an interview with News24, revealed that it was Kohli who asked him to change strategy after Dhoni had hit him for a six on the first ball of the final over of an IPL match.

It was a virtual knockout match between RCB and CSK, with the Bengaluru franchise needing to win the contest by at least 18 runs to make it to the playoffs. In the final over, CSK needed 17 runs to ensure their qualification. As Dayal bowled the first ball of the final over, Dhoni hammered a six, putting the rookie pacer under extreme pressure. This is when Kohli jumped in and strategized the CSK stalwart’s dismissal.

“Virat bhaiya told me to not give pace to Mahi bhai, because he likes pace, so Virat bhaiya calmed me down after the 1st ball six, a chat with him helped me a lot,” Dayal revealed.

“Yorker nhi slower ball dal”

Kohli owned dhobi in this farewell match https://t.co/IJwCBw1fE3 pic.twitter.com/sfoyJPJlZH

— M. (@IconicKohIi) September 9, 2024

On the next ball, Dayal got rid of Dhoni to put RCB in the driving seat. The Bengaluru side won the match by 27 runs and qualified for the playoffs.

During his interview, Dayal also revealed how Virat is portrayed as an overly aggressive person on social media. But, that isn’t the case in reality.

“He is portrayed as an overly aggressive individual on social media but he is nothing like that. When I tried talking to him, he himself came and explained a lot of things.

“Everyone knows about the kind of season I had with Gujarat Titans. My health deteriorated after that. I had a lot of doubts in my mind, but when I started this season, I didn’t miss a single training session,” he said.

The left-arm pacer also revealed that Kohli gave him assurances over his place in the team, no matter the performance.

“Virat eased the pressure before the first match by telling me that RCB were going to back me throughout the season, irrespective of how I performed.

“He said that whatever happened has happened, just focus on the future. He told me that whenever I perform for RCB, there should be a smile on my face and I would have to be enthusiastic on the field. I understood what his personality was like. At first, I could not understand his words, I just kept looking at him.”

A hilarious moment was captured on Day 4 of the Duleep Trophy match between India A and India B in Bengaluru. Before the start of the final day’s play, India B star Rishabh Pant decided to poke fun at the India A players with a hilarious act. As India A captain Shubman Gill was giving a speech to the players, Pant sneaked his way into the team huddle. While Gill and some of the players were unfazed by Pant’s shenanigans, pacer Avesh Khan decided to have a conversation with the India B star.

Look who was there in the India A huddle before the start of the day’s play #DuleepTrophy| @IDFCFIRSTBank

Follow the match https://t.co/Oke5l0BJpq pic.twitter.com/MxL8Pv05dV

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) September 8, 2024

Here’s how internet reacted:

— The Pullshot (@The_pullshot) September 8, 2024

Agent Rishabh Pant

— Adi (@playerof11) September 8, 2024

Real imposter

— Rohit.Bishnoi (@The_Kafir_boy) September 8, 2024

Meanwhile, India B were closing in on a victory after reducing India A to 132/6 at Tea. KL Rahul was batting on 50 while Kuldeep Yadav was also not out on a score of 6.

Yash Dayal made early inroads with the ball after India B were bowled out for 184 in the second innings. Dayal claimed the wickets of Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel to put India A on the backfoot.

On Day 3, a counter-attacking 61 by wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, where he showed glimpses of his best self with the bat, helped India B extend their lead to 240 runs against India A at stumps.

On a day on which 14 wickets fell, Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar led the way for India B to take a first-innings lead of 90 after bowling out India A for 231 in 72.4 overs. In their second innings, India B lost three wickets quickly – two of which were taken by Akash Deep.

Under pressure, Pant stitched a stand of 72 runs off 55 balls for the fourth wicket with Sarfaraz Khan (46 off 36 balls) and went to get his first fifty on return to red-ball cricket. But with him and Nitish Kumar Reddy falling in the last 30 minutes meant India A got something to smile, even though India B have a big lead in hand now.

In the morning, resuming from 134/2 in 35 overs, India B found early success as Yash Dayal strangled Riyan Parag down leg, with Pant moving across to his left to complete the catch. Saini came in to trap Dhruv Jurel lbw, followed by Washington Sundar getting some sharp dip and turning to castle a paddle-sweeping K.L Rahul.

Shivam Dube was in hit-and-miss mode during his stay at the crease, before edging to a second slip off Mukesh, who then trapped Kuldeep Yadav lbw. Tanush Kotian showed some fight, but an inside edge popping to the short leg off R Sai Kishore ended his resistance. After Mukesh had Akash caught at short leg, Kishore ended India A’s innings in 72.4 overs by castling Khaleel Ahmed.

(With PTI Inputs)

Wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant made his return as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the first Test match against Bangladesh starting September 19. He will be making his return to Test cricket for India after nearly 20 months following the injuries suffered in a car accident. Rohit Sharma will be the captain while Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah were both included in the squad. Akash Deep was named in the squad while young pacer Yash Dayal earned a maiden call-up.

Having played in the second and final Test against Bangladesh at Mirpur from December 22-25, 2022, Pant had met a road accident a few days later on December 30 and made his return to top flight cricket only in IPL this year.

The 26-year-old swashbuckling batter returned to the national side in their title-winning campaign in the T20 World Cup.

NEWS- Team India’s squad for the 1st Test of the IDFC FIRST Bank Test series against Bangladesh announced.

Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep… pic.twitter.com/pQn7Ll7k3X

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 8, 2024

However, Mohammed Shami failed to make it to the Test side even though chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar had earlier expressed that the right-arm seamer was targeting a return in the first Test against Bangladesh.

India’s long Test season begins with the first of the two Tests against Bangladesh in Chennai, starting on September 19.

The second Test of the series will be played at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur from September 27 to October 1.

India and Bangladesh have played 13 Tests so far in which the former has won 11 times while two have ended in draws.

Bangladesh will enter this series having recorded a historic 2-0 win over Pakistan in the opponent’s backyard whereas it will be India’s first Test assignment since beating England 4-1 at home in January-March earlier this year.

India’s squad for the 1st Test of the Bangladesh Test series: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.

(With PTI inputs)

India A vs India B, Duleep Trophy 2024 LIVE Score: KL Rahul© AFP

RCB players after loss against Rajasthan Royals© BCCI/Sportzpics

Dinesh Karthik did admit that RCB got a bit lucky after MS Dhoni hit the ball outside the stadium.© BCCI

Yash Dayal in action for RCB during IPL 2024© AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Rinku Singh shared a heartfelt post for Uttar Pradesh teammate and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pacer Yash Dayal after the latter helped his side qualify for the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs. For the unversed, Rinku and Dayal share a history in the IPL with the KKR batter hitting Dayal for five sixes in an over to help his side win the match. Dayal, who was with Gujarat Titans (GT) back then, saw his confidence hit rock bottom after the beating at the hands of Rinku.

He barely featured for GT after that match and was released by GT ahead of IPL 2024. He was then picked by RCB at the auction, and the rest is history.

On Saturday, Dayal defended 17 runs off the last over in RCB’s do-or-die match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and also dismissed MS Dhoni to help his side reach the playoffs.

Taking to Instagram, Rinku praised Dayal with a three word captioned. “God’s plan baby Yash Dayal,” he captioned a post on his Instagram story.

Rinku’s post was also shared by KKR on their official social media handles.

“God’s plan. Sahi bole, Rinku bhaiyya. Big UP for the UP boys,” KKR reshared Rinku’s post.

Recalling Rinku’s five sixes, the first three deliveries that he faced in the last over were all full-tosses and the batter made no mistake in dispatching them for sixes.

With 10 runs needed off 2 balls, Dayal bowled a slower length ball, but Rinku hit that too over the fence. The final ball of the match was once again a back-of-the-length slower ball and Rinku with the nerves of steel slammed it over long-on to seal the game for KKR.

However, against CSK, Dayal held his composure despite being struck for a six on the very first ball of the last over.

He dismissed CSK icon Dhoni on the very next ball to switch the momentum back in RCB’s favour. He then conceded just one run off the next five balls, sparking massive celebrations inside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have come under the scrutiny of experts and fans after their IPL 2024 match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday. RCB’s win over CSK, which secured a place in the IPL 2024 playoffs, sparked wild celebration inside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The RCB players were criticised for not shaking hands with MS Dhoni, who might’ve played his last game in the IPL with CSK failing to qualify for the playoffs.

The RCB supporters too had to face the wrath on social media for heckling CSK fans outside the stadium during their over-the-top victory celebrations.

In one such viral video, a CSK fan was manhandled by the RCB supporters, who surrounded the man outside the stadium to mock him over Saturday’s result.

pic.twitter.com/n7XKNwOptJ

— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) May 19, 2024

While RCB’s post-match celebrations can be deemed a bit unnecessary, there is no denying the fact that they deserve to be in the playoffs.

The team was rooted at the foot of the table after losing seven of their first eight matches. However, six successive wins since them have seen them steal a playoffs berth.

The Qualifier 2 and the final of this year’s IPL are scheduled to be held at Chepauk, CSK’s home ground. Since this announcement was made, fans have been hoping to see Dhoni and his team lifting the trophy in front of their home fans on May 26. However, the topsy-turvy season saw the CSK franchise fail to even make it to the playoffs.

Dhoni, 42, was widely expected to retire after he led the team to a record-equalling fifth title last year, but vowed to come back for one more season after a knee operation.

Dhoni handed over the Chennai captaincy ahead of the season to Ruturaj Gaikwad, who won the toss and elected to field first in the virtual knockout for the final play-off place.

Dhoni stood tall in front of RCB’s playoffs hope, adding 61 runs for the seventh wicket with veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, before Yash Dayal dismissed him to swing the game in RCB’s favour.

(With AFP Inputs)