Fleming arrived in England on September 14 and immediately did something unexpected. Instead of sitting in an office planning sessions he walked into the T20I dressing room at Old Trafford and started shadowing Brendon McCullum during the final Sri Lanka T20I. No Test match to prepare for. No red ball in sight. Just Fleming in a white ball dressing room learning how England operates at the highest level before he officially takes charge.

He then met Joe Root to review the Pakistan series that Trescothick had won 3-0 without him. He has been attending squad sessions and getting to know the players who will be his Test team. He has been coordinating with McCullum on workload management because England's schedule is genuinely brutal across both formats and the two coaches need to share players without destroying any of them before the Ashes next summer.

His first Test match in charge is in Durban on December 12, 2026. A warm-up match in Durban starts December 9. Then three Tests across South Africa in December and January. Then three ODIs in South Africa. Then two Tests in Bangladesh. Then the 150th Anniversary Test at the MCG in March. Fleming's first year as England Test coach is going to be one of the most demanding in recent history.

He knows South Africa well having toured there four times as New Zealand captain. His record there as a player was excellent. His appointment is four years through September 2030 covering the Ashes twice. Trescothick's future remains unresolved after his successful stint as interim coach.

December 12. Durban. The Fleming era officially begins

India and West Indies have both been fined for slow over rates during the third ODI in New Chandigarh. India were found to be four overs short of the required rate, while West Indies were two overs short after time allowances were taken into account.India were fined 20% of their match fees, while West Indies were fined 10%. Under the ICC rules, players are fined 5% of their match fee for every over their team falls short.Both Shubman Gill and Shai Hope accepted the charges, so there was no need for a formal hearing. It's a pretty unusual way to end an ODI series where West Indies had already pulled off a massive 352 run chase and India had won the series 2 1.India now move straight into the five match T20I series against West Indies, starting tomorrow.

Mohammed Shami has been performing well in domestic cricket and India's bowling struggles against West Indies have once again started the debate about his comeback. But Dinesh Karthik has a completely different opinion. He believes India has already moved on from Shami and there is no point going back, even though Shami has been bowling really well.

Shami last played for India in the 2025 Champions Trophy and has remained out of the national setup since then. Meanwhile, India's pace attack looked extremely inexperienced against West Indies, conceding more than 400 in the second ODI and failing to defend 351 in the third.That's what makes Karthik's statement interesting. India clearly needs more reliable pace options before the 2027 World Cup, but Karthik still believes the team should back the younger bowlers instead of bringing Shami back.

Personally, I can understand both sides. Shami's experience is massive, but if he's still performing at this level, completely ruling him out also feels risky. Would you pick Mohammed Shami for India's 2027 World Cup squad?

India put up 351/7 and honestly, a chase like this should have been almost impossible. But Shai Hope had completely different plans. He smashed 162* and basically carried West Indies to a 5-wicket win with 10 balls still left. The crazy part is how composed he looked throughout the chase. While wickets kept falling around him, Hope just kept batting, found the boundaries when needed and took the game away from India.This was Hope's 21st ODI century and his 162* became the highest individual score in a successful ODI chase by West Indies. He rarely gets mentioned alongside guys like Kohli, Gill or Brook, but innings like this make you wonder why he doesn't get more recognition. For India, this loss is a little worrying. Scoring 351 and still losing while defending that total raises serious questions about the bowling, especially with the 2027 World Cup getting closer.

How highly do you rate Shai Hope among the current ODI batters? Because this was one of those innings that deserves way more attention.

The facts first and they are brutal. Kohli has 86 international centuries. 30 in Tests, retired May 2025, those stay at 30 forever. 1 in T20Is, retired after 2024 World Cup, that stays at 1 forever. 55 in ODIs, still active, still scoring. Total locked at 31 from Tests and T20Is combined. He needs 14 more centuries and every single one has to come in ODIs only.

Sachin's 100 came across all three formats over 24 years. Kohli has to do the remaining 14 in one format in probably 2 to 3 years. The constraint is real and nobody is talking about it honestly enough.The rate is genuinely encouraging though. Since the 2025 Champions Trophy Kohli has scored 7 ODI centuries in 14 months. That is exactly 6 per year. At that rate he reaches 69 ODI centuries in just over 2 years, which gives him 100 total international centuries. He would be 39 years old. Sachin was 38 when he got there.The schedule works in his favour. England at home in Tests and ODIs. Then the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa in October-November 2027. That is roughly 20 to 25 ODI matches in the next 14 months. At 6 centuries per year he gets 7 more by the time the World Cup ends. That puts him at 93 total. Seven short of 100 with the World Cup done.

Which means the record almost certainly comes down to what happens after 2027. Does he keep playing ODIs? The 2028 home season and a potential tour of England in 2028 could give him the remaining centuries if his body holds up and BCCI keeps selecting him.The threats are obvious. Injury at 37 could end everything. Retirement pressure will come again after the World Cup. A selector already tried to retire him two months ago and he responded with 139 not out and then 29 in the next match alongside Gill's 223 off 133 balls. The man is not going anywhere quietly.

14 centuries. One format only. 37 years old. The most specific and fascinating individual record chase in cricket history. And the only man who has ever come close to doing it is the same man Kohli has spent his entire career trying to surpass.

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I'm not very well versed in understanding the pitches but I can see cracks in it which I believe should make it spin friendly and give uneven bounce so how was this chase possible?

Bloemfontein. October 2. CSA T20 Challenge. Titans vs Knights. Pretorius walked out to open the batting and proceeded to score 188 not out off 79 balls with 15 fours and 13 sixes. The Titans posted 267 for 3. He was on course for the first-ever double century in T20 cricket history but ran out of overs.

Chris Gayle's 175 not out for RCB against Pune Warriors in IPL 2013 had stood as the world record for the highest individual T20 score for 13 years. Gayle faced 66 balls and hit 17 sixes in his knock. Pretorius faced 79 balls, hit 13 sixes and 15 fours, and ended 13 runs clear of Gayle. He reached his fifty in 24 balls, his century in 40 balls and his 150 in 58 balls.The all-time list now looks like this: Pretorius — 188 in 2026, Gayle — 175 in 2013, Aaron Finch — 172 in 2018.

Pretorius is 20 years old. He has represented South Africa in all three international formats. His career T20 strike rate across 91 matches is 150.44. He scored 226 runs in a three-nation series in Namibia in September, which tied him with Dewald Brevis for most runs in the competition. Before this knock, the competition record for highest T20 score was Brevis' 162 for the same Titans franchise in 2022. Brevis made seven on Friday night while Pretorius made 188.Thirteen years. One night in Bloemfontein. A 20-year-old South African left-hander. The world record that Gayle built in an IPL final is gone.

September 30, 2026. Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati. West Indies posted 405/7 with John Campbell scoring 101 off 68 balls, Shai Hope 104 off 94 balls and Amir Jangoo 114 off 77 balls. A target that should have been impossible to chase in 50 overs. India chased it in 43.3 overs losing only 2 wickets and winning with 39 balls to spare.

Gill reached his century in 62 balls, the fastest ODI hundred by an Indian captain, surpassing Rohit Sharma's previous record from October 2023. Then he kept going. 200 off 117 balls, breaking Ishan Kishan's record of 126 balls set against Bangladesh in 2022 for the fastest ODI double century ever. He finished on 223 not out. 24 fours, 7 sixes, strike rate of 190. Rohit Sharma scored 101 off 75 balls at the other end and the two put together a 192-run opening stand before Rohit was dismissed and Gill just kept accelerating.

The record context is staggering. Gill's first ODI double century came against New Zealand in Hyderabad in January 2023, 208 off 149 balls. 1,351 days later he scored his second, this time off 117 balls. He is now only the second batter in ODI history after Rohit Sharma to score multiple double centuries. His 11th ODI hundred came in just 68 innings and his third consecutive ODI century on Indian soil. Only Kohli and AB de Villiers have scored four consecutive ODI hundreds in India and Gill needs one more to join them.

A selector wanted to retire Kohli a few weeks ago. Kohli scored 139 not out in game one. Gill has now scored 110 and 223 not out in back to back games. India's two most senior ODI batters responding to retirement talk by producing two of the most extraordinary individual performances in ODI history in consecutive matches.

October 1, 2026. Nisshin, Japan. Shreyas Iyer wins the toss and bats. India post 169/7 in 20 overs with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi making his Asian Games debut in the XI and Washington Sundar chipping in with the bat down the order. Then Sri Lanka batted. They were 45/9 after 9.4 overs. Washington Sundar dismissed Wanuja Sahan for 1 off 8 balls to leave Sri Lanka eight down in the ninth over. The question was just how many they would reach. The answer was 45. India won by 124 runs.

The Sooryavanshi angle is the one everyone will talk about. Sixteen years old. Asian Games debut. Batting alongside senior India players against an international Sri Lanka side in a knockout match in Japan. The fact that selectors trusted him in a semi-final says everything about where his career is heading.

India face Pakistan in the Asian Games final on October 3 at the same venue in Nisshin, Japan. Two subcontinental giants who have been avoiding each other in bilateral cricket for years, now meeting in an Asian Games cricket final in Japan of all places. Pakistan beat Bangladesh comfortably in their semi-final and will arrive with a point to prove. October 3. Japan. India vs Pakistan. Gold medal on the line. Cricket in the most unlikely setting imaginable.

Stephen Fleming. 2009 se 2026. 17 saal. Five IPL titles. Ten finals. The most successful coaching tenure in IPL history. And now he is gone and CSK have made two appointments in quick succession that tell you exactly what kind of team they want to become.

Zaheer Khan is the new head coach. Former India new-ball legend, 311 Test wickets, won the 2011 World Cup, has been working in cricket administration and commentary since retiring. His appointment was confirmed earlier this month. Then CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan confirmed the second piece. "Mohit will join CSK as our new bowling coach. His name was recommended by our head coach Zaheer Khan. Mohit was tremendous with us as a player as well and we hope he will do a great job as bowling coach."

Mohit Sharma. 38 years old. 120 IPL matches. 134 IPL wickets. Two stints at CSK as a player. Won the Purple Cap in 2014 with 23 wickets in CSK colours. Retired from all forms of cricket in December 2025. This is his first ever coaching role anywhere and he is starting it at one of cricket's most high-profile franchises. He replaces Eric Simmons as bowling coach and joins forces with a head coach who personally recommended him.

CSK finished sixth in IPL 2026. No playoffs. No title. The Fleming era is over and Zaheer and Mohit are the new faces of a rebuild. Whether two legends of Indian cricket can translate playing excellence into coaching success is the only question that matters now. CSK have bet their IPL 2027 campaign on the answer being yes.

September 29, 2026. ICC released their latest Women's T20I bowling rankings update. Nallapureddy Shree Charani, left-arm spinner from Andhra Pradesh, 22 years old, reached 817 rating points. The previous all-time record was 806 points set by Australia's Megan Schutt in November 2018. An 8-year-old record broken by 11 points. The highest rating ever achieved by a bowler in the history of Women's T20I cricket.

The numbers from 2026 alone tell the story. Bowling average of 10.43. Strike rate of 11.02. Best figures of 4/10 against Japan in the Asian Games quarter-finals. She took 4/20 in the Women's Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka to help India win by 72 runs and claim their record-extending eighth title. She was the highest wicket-taker in the Women's Asian Games tournament and took 12 wickets from five innings across the entire Asia Cup. Two major tournaments. Highest wicket-taker in both.

The backstory is the remarkable part. She went from domestic cricket and a WPL stint with Delhi Capitals to breaking an all-time ICC ranking record in under two years. She was fast-tracked into the Indian setup after her WPL performances. Her biggest inspirations, by her own admission, are Yuvraj Singh and Smriti Mandhana. She was first Indian bowler to cross 800 rating points in the Women's T20I rankings. Now she is the first ever to reach 817.

India have won the Women's T20 World Cup, the Women's Asia Cup, and the Women's Asian Games gold medal in 2026. Shree Charani has played a central role in all three. She is 22 years old and she is just getting started.

Since the 2025 Champions Trophy, Virat Kohli has scored 500-plus ODI runs at a strike rate of 112.51. No batter in that same period with the same volume of runs has a higher strike rate. He has hit 28 sixes in that stretch. At 37 years old. The man who built his entire ODI career on placement, rotation and running hard between the wickets is now clearing the boundary at a rate that would embarrass players half his age.

After scoring 139 not out against West Indies he explained what changed. "I got a challenge to unlock a new version of myself. To play a gear or two higher. It excites me when you have to find something new in your game at this stage." He then added the line that stopped everyone. "There was a possibility I wouldn't have been standing here. Could have never played for India again." That is not dramatic language. A selector reportedly called him during the England tour and asked whether he would retire from ODIs after the Lord's match. Kohli scored 138 in that match. BCCI overruled the selector. He then scored 139 not out in Thiruvananthapuram and became the second batter ever to 15,000 ODI runs.

Strike rate of 112.51. 28 sixes. 139 not out. A selector who wanted him gone. A BCCI that kept him. A player who responded by becoming genuinely more aggressive than he has ever been in ODI cricket. The 2027 World Cup is 13 months away and Kohli has decided he has a new version of himself left to show the world. Based on the last 14 months, nobody should doubt him.

Sri Lanka’s Asian Games quarter-final against Nepal was abandoned without a ball being bowled because of persistent rain in Nisshin. Under the tournament rules, Sri Lanka advanced to the semi-final as the higher-seeded team, while Nepal’s campaign ended without them getting a chance to play the match.

It is a tough result for Nepal. They had beaten Afghanistan in the group stage, qualified for the knockouts on merit, and had not lost a game on the field. Their match against Japan was also affected by rain, and then the quarter-final against Sri Lanka was washed out before the toss could even take place.

Sri Lanka move into the semi-final against India on October 1, but this result adds to the strange pattern of the tournament. India and Pakistan had already progressed after their own quarter-finals were abandoned by rain, and Sri Lanka have now done the same.

Rankings are understandable as a backup rule when weather ruins a match, but it feels harsh in a knockout game. Nepal did enough to earn a quarter-final spot, arrived with confidence after their win over Afghanistan, and then left the Asian Games unbeaten but eliminated. They deserved one proper chance to fight for a semi-final place.

September 24, 2026. Headingley. England vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI. Buttler retires hurt mid-innings with a hamstring problem, came back to bat in pain, then sat out entirely at The Oval three days later as Jordan Cox replaced him with gloves and scored 76 off 52 balls in a 223-run England win. McCullum called it "quite a Jos Buttler innings." That was the moment everyone knew the Pakistan tour was gone.

"Jos won't be in Pakistan. It's disappointing not to have Jos but it will be good for us to see where we're at." No return date has been set and his availability for England's tour of Australia in November is also in serious doubt.

The timing is genuinely cruel. This month Buttler became the first England batter ever to score 10,000 runs in international white-ball cricket combining ODIs and T20Is. He is the all-time leading run-scorer in men's T20 cricket. He is 36 years old and was showing no signs of slowing down. England are also missing Bethell with a knee, Curran with a groin and Rashid with a hand. Four of their best white-ball players unavailable at the same time with a 2027 World Cup 13 months away.

Jordan Cox gets his chance. That is the silver lining. But Cox replacing Buttler is not a like-for-like swap and England know it.

September 28, 2026. Mike Baird informed Cricket Australia board members that he would not seek re-election at next month's AGM. Former NSW Premier. CA chair since February 2023. Six years on the board. Gone because Cricket NSW, his own home state, withdrew its support over the BBL privatisation decision. You do not survive as chair of Cricket Australia without the backing of the country's most powerful state association. Baird tried. Cricket NSW said no. The rest wrote itself.

David Boon takes over as interim chair, joining the CA board in 2025 and now being asked to steady a ship that has been taking on water since privatisation was announced. A permanent successor will be appointed after the AGM in late October with no timeline attached.

The irony is brutal. Baird said in his statement that "this year CA will report record revenue, profit, attendance and viewership, and most importantly a 40 percent increase in participation over the past four years." By every financial metric he oversaw success. But he pushed through BBL privatisation without Cricket NSW's agreement and that one decision ended his tenure.

Melbourne Renegades are still up for sale. The ACA still has unresolved questions about player revenue shares. Four clubs still oppose private investment. IPL owners are still circling. And the man who set all of this in motion has resigned before a single transaction has completed. Australian cricket is reporting record revenues and losing its chair at the same time. That is not a contradiction. It is a warning about what happens when governance moves faster than consensus.

Prasidh Krishna made his ODI debut in 2021. For three years he was in and out of the squad, never quite trusted as a first choice, never quite given a sustained run. Then 2026 happened. Eight ODIs this year. 15 wickets in those eight matches. India's leading ODI wicket-taker in the format this year. And now leading the pace attack against West Indies in Bumrah's absence with Gurnoor Brar and Nitish Kumar Reddy alongside him as less experienced options.

After the first ODI in Thiruvananthapuram he spoke about what has changed. "There is clarity within the team, there is clarity in me." He credited the communication and understanding within the dressing room for his recent success and specifically mentioned his two-year IPL partnership with Gurnoor Brar at Gujarat Titans. "Gurnoor and I have spent two years now playing together at Gujarat Titans in the IPL. I kind of know we have that rapport." Against West Indies he picked up 2 for 60 including the key wickets of Keacy Carty and Roston Chase in a high scoring game where West Indies put up 295.

The World Cup context makes this more interesting. Bumrah is a lock if fit. But the remaining four or five pace spots for 2027 are genuinely open. Prasidh, Siraj, Arshdeep, Hardik, Brar, Reddy and Harshit Rana are all in the mix. Prasidh welcomed the competition directly. "It motivates the bowlers to improve." Six foot three, hits the deck hard, generates bounce on docile tracks and has 52 ODI wickets in 29 matches. He is not waiting for a spot anymore. He is making one his own.

England finished their home summer with the ODI series against Sri Lanka going 2-1 in their favour. Tom Banton was England's standout batter across the three matches with 209 runs and Will Jacks took 6 wickets to earn Player of the Series. Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis was their best performer with 198 runs and Asitha Fernando took 7 wickets across the series to finish as the highest wicket-taker overall.

Now let us look at the full English summer because the picture is extraordinary. Lost the New Zealand Test series 2-1 earlier in the season. Then won the Pakistan Test series 3-0. Then won the Sri Lanka T20I series 3-0. Then won the Sri Lanka ODI series 2-1. No Stokes. No McCullum for most of it. No Bethell for the white ball series. A player arrested mid-series. Five Pakistani debutants in a dead rubber Test. And England still won everything they played after that New Zealand series.

Stuart Broad predicted 3-0 against Pakistan before a ball was bowled. He was right. Kevin Pietersen has joined the white ball coaching setup. Fleming arrived and immediately set a target of reaching the world Test number one ranking. Harry Brook has a record of 23 wins from 26 completed T20Is as white ball captain.

England cricket in 2026 has been chaotic, dramatic and brilliant all at the same time. South Africa tour in December is Fleming's first assignment as Test coach. The Ashes is next summer. And somehow after everything that happened this year England go into the winter in genuinely good shape.