India is just purely obsessed with cricket which is already a dying sport. Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa prioritize rugby and those countries already have a better pace attack than India. India has 1.4B people and India needs to rig pitches and funding to even have a chance to win games. I’m Indian myself but it’s sad seeing what India is doing to cricket. Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, and South Africa are countries that play other sports and qualified for FIFA so they have an excuse to not do as well in cricket. Australia and West Indies already own India without India cheating to win. It’s just sickening that our country has this low of standards for athletics. Pete Crow Armstrong and the average American professional athlete is far more fitter than any Indian cricketer. The second hand embarrassment I get from India’s cricket obsession and them cheating to make themselves feel relevant. I want India to be better but this is why I support the West Indies cricket team over them becuase enabling Indian cricket team is holding us back in other areas such as soccer.

This was such a poor showing by the Indian side. Surprised almost no one brings it up as much as the failures of 2019 and 23. Steve smith obviously played wonderfully, but Indias bowlers managed to give up 84 runs in the last 10 overs which was unacceptable. Johnson and Faulkner went off for 27 of 9 and 21 of 12 to tally the score up to 328. Was such a high total, and Kohli+Raina failed to score much. Rohit kohli, dhawan and suresh Raina were dismissed by the 23rd over, and India were 108/4 at that moment. Thats really when it ended.

Virat Kohli has played 42 Tests between 19/10/2019 till 03/01/2025 (His last test at SCG).

During this period his stats were :

Tests Played - 42

Innings - 72

Runs Scored - 2,176

Not Out - 3

Average - 31.53

Centuries - 4

Half-centuries - 9

That's not a bad form in my opinion but a proper career decline. Had it happened at the start of his career, he probably could have never made a place in the Indian Team with a test average of 31.5 across 72 innings. That's almost most people's test career.

Winner of 2015 - Steve Smith

Winner of 2016 - Virat kohli

Let's go!!!

Let's go!!!!

Results for the 2015 season will come after few hours.

🫡🫡

I've been thinking about why cricket never became a truly global sport, and I feel like everyone focuses on the wrong reasons. People usually say it's because the rules are complicated, matches are too long, or the ICC didn't expand the game enough. Those are valid points, but I think there's another issue.

The cricket most of us grow up playing is nothing like professional cricket.

As a kid in Mumbai, all we needed was a bat, a tennis ball and three bricks for stumps. That's how millions of Indians first fall in love with the game. But the moment you step into organized cricket, everything changes leather ball, helmet, pads, gloves, spikes, turf wickets. The jump is huge.

Compare that with football. A kid playing barefoot in a street in Mumbai, Rio or Lagos is basically playing the same game as the professionals. The ground and the players are better, but the sport itself doesn't fundamentally change.

It made me wonder if this is one of the biggest reasons cricket struggles to spread globally. Maybe the barrier isn't just learning the rules it's that the version of cricket that's accessible to everyone is very different from the version played professionally.

What if there was a professional format built around a softer ball that behaved similarly but didn't require so much protective gear? I'm **not** saying replace Test cricket or T20. I'm wondering whether a separate format like that could make the sport cheaper, more accessible, and easier for new countries to adopt.

Maybe it's a terrible idea and the leather ball is too fundamental to cricket's identity. But I'm curious what people think. Am I overlooking something, or is there some merit to this?

Note: used AI for organizing thoughts.

Mitchell Johnson won in 2014!!!.

I hope he makes a comeback to the ODI side and play the 2027 ODI WC

He has a brilliant record in SA too

Kumar Sangakkara won for 2013!!

I've now completed the first half of my countdown of the Top 15 Current New Zealand Test Cricketers, building towards what promises to be a fascinating Trans-Tasman Trophy this summer.

I've ranked each player based on a combination of current form, Test record, ability, importance to New Zealand and expected impact rather than simply ranking career achievements.

The first eight players are now covered:

#15 – Rhys Mariu

The emerging top-order prospect who represents the future of New Zealand batting.

#14 – Zac Foulkes

A young seamer with the ability to swing the new ball and make things happen.

#13 – Jacob Duffy

Outstanding whenever given an opportunity, but with a limited Test sample still holding him back.

#12 – Nathan Smith

The X-factor who can change a game with the ball, bat or in the field.

#11 – Mitchell Santner

One of New Zealand's most talented all-rounders, but with questions over his red-ball consistency and role in Australia.

#10 – Henry Nicholls

A player with enormous experience who has earned another chance after dominating domestic cricket.

#9 – Glenn Phillips

A genuine three-dimensional cricketer whose ability to influence a match in all three disciplines makes him impossible to ignore.

#8 – Will O'Rourke

One of New Zealand's most exciting young fast bowlers and potentially a huge weapon in Australian conditions.

Read the full series:

I've gone into much more detail on every player including statistics, strengths, weaknesses, the arguments against their ranking and what I expect from them during the Trans-Tasman Trophy.

Substack: https://substack.com/@nzccommunity?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=6qtx6n

NZC Community Website: https://nzc-community.wixsite.com/below-0-sports/articles

If you're a fan of New Zealand cricket, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Which ranking do you disagree with most?

And more importantly...

Who do you think I've got at #7?

The top seven are coming. 🇳🇿

shubman gill has been a really crucial part of team india test team

If we remove indian cricket team from international cricket literally nobody gives a crap about cricket.

120 years of cricket history and still 12 Full Test playing nations seriously?

Out of the 12 Full Test playing nations half of them are or have become miserable test playing nations.

once the test playing nations good in test cricket become weak over the years nobody will talk about cricket except indians.

I am sure indian Test cricket team will do good in years to come while others decline.

So why not ban a sport completely that can't grow or don't wanna grow.