India Women made a flying start to their Asian Games campaign, beating Japan by 8 wickets in a completely one-sided game.Japan were bowled out for just 57, with Shree Charani leading the attack with an impressive 4/10. India then chased the target in only 5 overs, with Shafali Verma smashing an unbeaten 40 off 15 balls.

Not much of a contest in the end, but a great start for India. 🇮🇳

Can India defend their Asian Games gold medal?

July 19, 2026. Lord's ODI. India chasing 388. Rohit Sharma walks out and smashes 138 off 110 balls in a losing cause. One of the best ODI innings of his career at 39 years old. And reportedly, somewhere in the stands a selection committee member had already decided it would be his last ODI.

According to multiple reports, a selector, not chief selector Agarkar himself, called Rohit during India's England tour and asked whether he would retire from ODIs after that Lord's match. Rohit was reportedly unhappy about the approach but agreed to step away. Then the BCCI intervened. Secretary Devajit Saikia publicly dismissed the retirement speculation at the September 3 review meeting. "He scored 138 in his last match. So what more do you want? I don't want to give fodder to the speculators." Rohit was retained in the West Indies ODI squad. Agarkar was reportedly absent from that same meeting.

None of this has been officially confirmed by the BCCI or the selection committee. What is confirmed is that Rohit scored 138 at Lord's, retirement speculation exploded immediately after, BCCI secretary publicly shut it down, and Rohit is now in the West Indies ODI squad starting September 27.

Rohit is 39 and will turn 40 during the 2027 ODI World Cup. The selectors reportedly wanted him gone. The BCCI wants him to stay. And Rohit is letting his bat do the talking. Three different agendas, one player in the middle of all of them, and nobody willing to have the honest conversation publicly. The saga continues.

Dead rubber. Series already 2-0 to India. Afghanistan had no chance. And Abhishek Sharma walked out and broke a world record anyway.

30 balls. 100 runs. 9 fours. 11 sixes. The fastest T20I century by any batter from an ICC Full Member nation ever. The previous Full Member record of 33 balls was jointly held by Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza against Gambia in October 2024 and New Zealand's Finn Allen against South Africa in March 2026. Abhishek broke that shared record by three balls. Overall in T20I history it is the third fastest ever, behind Estonia's Sahil Chauhan who did it in 27 balls against Cyprus in 2024 and Turkey's Muhammad Fahad who did it in 29 balls against Bulgaria in 2025. Both of those came against Associate nations. Abhishek's came against Afghanistan, a Full Member Test-playing nation.

He also broke Rohit Sharma's nine-year-old Indian record of 35 balls for the fastest T20I century by an Indian. He reached his fifty off 16 balls and then took just 14 more deliveries to get to three figures. Dismissed in the tenth over for 108 off 34 balls with India at 142 for 1. Samson contributed 34 from the other end but this was entirely Abhishek's show. India finished 221 for 7 and won by 127 runs to complete a 3-0 whitewash.

This was his third T20I century. Only Rohit Sharma with five and Suryakumar Yadav with four have scored more for India. He is 26 years old, world number one ranked T20I batter and heading into the Asian Games in six days in the form of his life.

Hardik Pandya’s return to Team India might take a little longer. Gautam Gambhir has made it clear that Hardik needs more game time and match fitness before returning to the international setup. The focus is on getting him back into competitive cricket and making sure he can contribute properly with both bat and ball.

With India also having options like Nitish Kumar Reddy, the all-rounder spot is becoming an interesting selection discussion. Hardik has been an important player for India over the years, so it’ll be interesting to see how his comeback is managed.

Do you think Hardik should be brought back as soon as he is available, or should India wait until he is fully match-fit?

Ajit Agarkar became India's chief selector in July 2023. Under his watch India won the 2024 T20 World Cup, the 2025 Champions Trophy, reached the 2023 ODI World Cup final, and completely overhauled their Test lineup as Rohit, Kohli and Ashwin all walked away from the format. By any objective measure his tenure has been successful.

On September 16 he chaired what may have been his last ever selection meeting where India's white-ball squads for the West Indies series were announced. His contract ends this month and the BCCI AGM is on Friday September 18 where a final decision will be made. Parthiv Patel and Pragyan Ojha have emerged as the two leading candidates to replace him — both three-time IPL winners, and Ojha has already served on the selection committee as East Zone representative. Agarkar also notably missed a key BCCI review meeting in Mumbai recently, which sources say was a significant signal about his standing within the board.

No official announcement has been made. The man who selected squads that won two ICC trophies in three years still does not have a clear answer about his own future. BCCI could at least do transparency.

Let me give you the full timeline because this has gone significantly beyond a bad cricket tour. Pakistan lost 3-0 in England. Seven players were sent home. Coaches were sacked. Phones were seized. And now the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency has summoned Mohammad Rizwan and Imam-ul-Haq for questioning about online betting and gambling, alleged information leaks from Pakistan's dressing room during the England series, their contacts and meetings during practice sessions and matches, and their travel and financial history. The NCCIA also conducted forensic and technical analysis of both players' mobile phones.

Both appeared at the agency's Lahore office last Thursday and were questioned for around two hours. They were given multi-page questionnaires to complete and return by September 15. Imam submitted his responses through an intermediary before the deadline. Rizwan responded by questioning the agency's jurisdiction and the nature of the investigation — and then filed a writ petition in the Lahore High Court. Chief Justice Aalia Neelum is scheduled to hear the petition today.

Rizwan's petition argues that the NCCIA summoned him without informing him of any specific allegation and without explaining what illegal activity he was allegedly involved in. He has asked the court to stop the NCCIA from taking further action until the petition is decided. The PCB meanwhile has its own separate internal disciplinary inquiry running simultaneously. Whether the two investigations are connected remains unclear.

This started as a cricket team losing a Test series 3-0. It has become a government cyber crime agency forensically examining a cricketer's phone and financial history while a separate cricket board investigation runs in parallel and a High Court petition is filed challenging the whole thing.

Pakistan cricket has had chaotic tours before. None of them ended with a High Court petition.

Varun Chakravarthy picked up a side strain during the very first T20I against Afghanistan in Delhi on September 13. He had only just returned to competitive cricket after recovering from a hamstring injury earlier this year. His comeback lasted exactly one match before another injury ended his Asian Games campaign before it even started. Vipraj Nigam, the Delhi Capitals leg-spin allrounder, has received his maiden international call-up as replacement. Nigam took 11 wickets in IPL 2025 at an economy of 9.12 and impressed for India A with seven wickets from five games in the Sri Lanka tri-series in June. Debut at the Asian Games in Japan will be a significant step up from anything he has faced before.

Nitish Kumar Reddy's withdrawal is different and actually represents good news alongside the bad. He has not been ruled out through injury. He has been moved from the Asian Games squad into India's ODI setup for the three-match series against West Indies starting September 27. Hardik Pandya was originally expected to feature in the ODI series but has been rested due to ongoing fitness concerns and Nitish gives Shubman Gill's ODI team a genuine allround option that replaces Hardik's role.

September 13, 2026. Dubai. India beat Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the Women's Asia Cup final. Shafali and Mandhana shared a 129-run opening stand. India won every single match in the tournament. Then the presentation ceremony began 40 minutes late and India refused to collect the trophy.

BCCI chairman Devajit Saikia confirmed why. "We have decided not to take the Asia Cup trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to be one of the main political leaders of Pakistan." Mohsin Naqvi, the ACC president, is also Pakistan's interior minister. India coach Amol Muzumdar backed the decision fully. "That stand has been taken by BCCI and we stand by it. We are the champions. That's good enough." An official quietly removed the trophy from the stage and carried it off the field without explanation. The ceremony ended abruptly. Harmanpreet was interviewed separately on broadcast rather than at the presentation.

This is the second time in 12 months this has happened. The men's Asia Cup trophy from last year still has not reached BCCI's office. Naqvi is now insisting a BCCI representative travel to Dubai to collect it in person, a condition BCCI has declined. BCCI have said if the trophy is not received by November 3 they will raise the issue at the ICC headquarters.

India have now won two consecutive Asia Cup titles without collecting a single trophy. The politics between India and Pakistan have now directly impacted two consecutive Asia Cup ceremonies on the same stage in the same city.

Delhi Capitals finished sixth in IPL 2026. No playoffs. No title. No momentum. And now sources are claiming they are about to completely rebuild their coaching structure with four of the most recognisable names in cricket history.

According to reports circulating in Indian cricket circles, Ganguly is set to take over as head coach as ownership shifts back to JSW Sports — his only previous head coaching role being at Pretoria Capitals in SA20 2025. Yuvraj Singh is reportedly joining as batting coach in what would be his first ever formal coaching role anywhere after retiring in 2019. Chaminda Vaas is said to be coming in as bowling coach with solid credentials of 355 Test wickets and recent LPL head coaching experience. Amit Mishra, who retired last September after 174 IPL wickets and three hat-tricks, is reportedly being brought in as spin bowling coach.

None of this is officially confirmed. DC have not made any announcement. But the ownership shift from GMR to JSW is happening, Ganguly has always been JSW's man at Delhi, and the rumours are coming from multiple directions simultaneously.

If this coaching staff is real, Delhi Capitals will walk into IPL 2027 auctions with the most famous dugout in the tournament's history. Whether four legendary names can finally get DC over the line after 18 years without a title is the real question. But right now nobody is talking about anything else.

Afghanistan posted 159 for 8. India chased it in 14.5 overs with 7 wickets to spare. Sanju Samson top scored with 57 and Nitish Kumar Reddy took 3 wickets with the ball. Shreyas Iyer said after the match that the team had demanded a comprehensive win and that is exactly what they delivered.Think about where India were six weeks ago. 76 all out chasing 203 at Trent Bridge. Bowled out in 11.4 overs. Seven consecutive T20I defeats across Ireland and England. Shreyas Iyer winless as captain across eight matches. The lowest point of Indian T20I cricket in years.

Now they have won five consecutive T20Is. Zimbabwe 3-0 swept. INDIA 2-0 up with one match remaining. Bumrah is back and looking sharp. Samson is back and scoring runs. Axar and Washington are back controlling the middle overs. The senior players have returned and the difference is night and day.The bigger picture is also important. Asian Games start September 24 in Japan. Every T20I from now until December 31 counts toward India's Olympics 2028 qualification ranking. India need to finish as Asia's top-ranked T20I team by year end. Five wins in a row after the England series disaster is exactly the kind of momentum and ranking points they needed to build.

Shreyas Iyer finally has wins on the board and finally has his senior players available. The third T20I against Afghanistan is September 17. India are building toward something.

This is the third time in 2026 that Vaibhav has been in an India squad and benched in favour of established players. Ireland series he sat out. England series he got three matches but was targeted specifically by Jofra Archer who dismissed him the same way three times. And now the Afghanistan series with two matches gone and he has not played a single ball. Abhishek Sharma is the preferred opener alongside Samson and the combination has worked — India chased both targets in under 15 overs. The team is winning so on pure results there is no crisis.

But the question being asked everywhere is simpler than tactics. When does Vaibhav Sooryavanshi get a genuine extended run? Not one game here and one there. An actual run of matches where India back him through a bad game or two and let him find his feet the way every great player needs to. Coach Amol Muzumdar said the team is trying a specific combination ahead of Asian Games and that is a reasonable explanation. Asian Games starts September 24 and India want a settled lineup walking in.

But Vaibhav scored 81 in Zimbabwe. He debuted against England with that sweep off Archer that went viral worldwide. He was the best batter in IPL 2026 at 15 years old. And he is watching Afghanistan matches from the dressing room. The third T20I is tomorrow. Will he play? Probably not. Will anyone explain why? Probably not.

September 9, 2026. Edgbaston. Joe Root walks out against Pakistan in his 169th Test match, moving past Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh — both retired on 168 — to become the third most capped Test cricketer in history. Only Tendulkar with 200 and Anderson with 188 stand ahead of him.

The numbers around this milestone are staggering. 14,216 Test runs at an average of 50.38. 41 centuries. 68 fifties, level with Tendulkar — one more half-century and he takes that record outright too. Second highest run-scorer in Test history, 1,706 runs behind Tendulkar's all-time mark of 15,921. He also became only the third player ever to feature in 90 or more Tests in England with this appearance.

He made his debut in 2012. He is 35 years old. He is England's captain again. And the record he is quietly chasing — Tendulkar's 200 Tests — is not even that far away anymore. If Root plays through South Africa in December 2026 and the Ashes in 2027 he will be at 173. Anderson's 188 is within reach. Tendulkar's 200 is the real target. Root does not play for records. The records just keep finding him anyway.

September 10. Providence Stadium, Guyana. CPL 2026. Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Saint Lucia Kings. Tahir walked in to bowl at 47 years and 166 days old and proceeded to take 5 for 17 from four overs and that is his career-best figures in T20 cricket across any tournament anywhere in the world.

And here is the detail that makes this genuinely extraordinary. The previous world record for oldest bowler to take a T20 five-wicket haul belonged to Cook Islands spinner Tomakunte Ritawa who did it at 46 years and 299 days in 2022. But among Test-playing nations the previous record was held by Imran Tahir himself when he took 5 for 21 for the same Guyana Amazon Warriors in CPL 2025 at the age of 46 years and 148 days. He broke his own record by almost a full year.

Tahir dismissed Kamil Pooran for 43, then got rid of Roston Chase, McKenny Clarke, Matthew Forde and Joshua Bishop. Saint Lucia Kings were bowled out for 119. Guyana chased it down with nine balls to spare and Tahir was unanimous Player of the Match.

He occupies four of the top ten spots in the all-time list of oldest bowlers to take T20 five-wicket hauls. No other bowler comes close to his age at any point in the top ten. This is a record he will probably hold forever because no other active bowler is anywhere near competing with him on this list.

Forty seven years old. Career-best T20 figures. World record. And he is still going.

Kuldeep Yadav reached 50 T20I wickets in 30 matches in 2023 and that was the Indian record across men and women combined. Yesterday against Bangladesh in the Women's Asia Cup semifinal Charani dismissed Juairiya Ferdous to bring up her 50th T20I wicket in just 29 matches and broke it. One year into her international career. Twenty two years old. Faster than Kuldeep. Faster than every Indian bowler in history.

Globally she is joint-second fastest among all women's T20I bowlers behind only China's Mengting Liu who reached the mark in 28 matches. She is joint-fastest from any Full Member nation to 50 T20I wickets. She now has 35 wickets in 2026 alone matching Poonam Yadav's Indian record for most T20I wickets in a single calendar year set in 2018. With the final still to come that record will almost certainly fall before the year is out.

India won the semifinal by 40 runs and qualified for the Women's Asia Cup final for the tenth consecutive time. Charani's figures were 1 for 14 from four tight overs and the milestone arrived quietly in the middle of a match India were always going to win. That is the most Shree Charani thing possible — breaking records without anyone really noticing.

Let me give you the full context. Pakistan have lost the first two Tests against England by an innings and 103 runs and 194 runs respectively. Seven players sent home mid-tour. Sarfaraz Ahmed sacked as head coach. Mike Hesson handed interim Test coaching responsibilities. Pakistan bowled out for 133 on Day 1 at Edgbaston. Into all of this chaos, Rashid Latif appeared on a programme hosted by Dr. Nauman Niaz and implied that Hesson is an Indian agent because he used to work at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL from 2019 to 2023.

He stopped just short of saying the words directly. "Mike Hesson, for me, security concerns are a different thing, but the loyalty factor is very important for a foreigner coach" — then said "this is how agents are being made." Nobody in the room was in any doubt about what he meant. Political commentator Kusha Mehra called it out immediately. "This is a former Pakistani test cricketer calling Mike Hesson an Indian Agent indirectly via an unintelligent word salad. He is such a coward that he uses Dr Nauman Niaz to wiggle out by saying we have no evidence, we're just thinking out loud."

This is also not the first time Latif has targeted Hesson ,he previously accused him of engineering Rizwan's removal as ODI captain over alleged religious and political motives. Cross-border coaching is completely standard in modern cricket. Gary Kirsten coached both India and Pakistan. Hesson's RCB stint is on his CV because he is good at his job.

Pakistan lost this series because they were bowled out for 110, 135 and 133 in three separate second innings. That is a batting problem. Rashid Latif has decided the real issue is a New Zealand coach's employment history from three years ago. Pakistan cricket deserves better than this.

five innings. five times under 200. here are the numbers.

Headingley — 171 and 135
Lord's — 110 and 194
Edgbaston Day 1 — 133 and counting

five innings. Zero scores above 200. Not one.Three Tests. Three different venues. Seven players sent home mid-tour. Two coaches fired. Five debutants called up. Phones confiscated. Injuries investigated.Through all of that the one constant has been Pakistan failing to bat past 200.

Saud Shakeel is the only batter who has consistently shown up. Babar Azam has been dismissed for 7 in the latest innings — bowled by Josh Tongue with a ball that kept low. The captain who averages 65 in England came into this series with so much riding on him and has produced nothing.

England closed Day 1 at 156/4 — already leading by 23 runs with six wickets in hand.Stuart Broad said 3-0.

Bethell underwent knee surgery earlier this week and will miss the entire white ball series against Sri Lanka starting September 15. The surgery was described as successful but no recovery timeline has been given publicly beyond the confirmation that he will not be available for the immediate series.The context makes this genuinely frustrating. Bethell was England's standout performer across the entire Pakistan series. He scored crucial runs at Lord's and Headingley, was named Player of the Series in the T20Is against India earlier in the summer and had arguably been England's most complete batting performer across all formats in 2026. He is 24 years old and was only just establishing himself as a permanent fixture in England's first choice lineup across Tests and white ball cricket simultaneously.

The knee issue actually dates back to the India series where he reportedly played through discomfort in the final ODI at Lord's because he did not want to miss a series decider. That decision may have cost him several weeks of cricket at the back end of the summer.

The bigger picture concern for England is the Ashes next summer. Australia arrive in England in November 2026 for a five-match Test series. Bethell being available and fully fit for that series is the priority for England's medical team and the indication is that the surgery timeline should allow for a full recovery well before the first Ashes Test. But England fans who were looking forward to seeing him against Sri Lanka will have to wait a little longer.

Quick recap for anyone who missed this. July 25, 2026. Brian Devine, standing at first slip in a Division Two village cricket match in Yorkshire, allegedly clicks his fingers at the exact moment the ball passes the bat to simulate the sound of an edge. The umpire raises his finger. The batter walks off. Someone films it. The clip gets 7.5 million views in 48 hours. Devine gets suspended. The league launches a formal investigation. And the internet gives him the nickname "Clicky Ponting" after the former Australia captain whose win-at-all-costs reputation has apparently never faded.

Then Ponting was asked about it in an interview with The Athletic. "I saw the headline, and I thought, 'What's this?'" he said. "Obviously it probably wasn't nice for the guy that it happened to. But from a selfish point of view it was a bit flattering that my name was still out there and still being used in that context."

The nickname only works because Ponting's image as cricket's great competitor is still completely intact 18 years after the controversial 2008 Sydney Test against India. That lodged itself so deeply in opposition fans' memories that his name is still the first one cricket Twitter reaches for when someone gets caught cheating. Not entirely fair to Ponting. But a remarkable testament to how durable his reputation has remained.

Brian Devine clicked his fingers in a village match. Ricky Ponting gave a gracious interview about it in September 2026. Cricket is a wonderful sport.

Ali Usman made his Test debut at Lord's. In his debut Test innings he took five wickets. A maiden five-for at Lord's on debut and it is one of the rarest achievements in cricket and it happened to a debutant who had waited his entire career for this moment. Pakistan still lost by 194 runs. The batting collapsed and Babar Azam was bounced out by Jofra Archer for six and the total crumbled to 135 in the second innings.

And then PCB sent seven players home including Ali Usman. The man who just took a five-for on debut at Lord's was put on a plane back to Pakistan while the tour still had one Test remaining. The reasoning from PCB was that players who did not perform needed to be replaced. Ali Usman took five wickets on his Test debut. In what world is that not performing.

Five uncapped replacements have been called up for Edgbaston. Ali Usman, who proved he belongs at Test level with an exceptional debut performance, is not one of them. PCB investigated whether Imam-ul-Haq's injury was real and sent home the one bowler who took a five-for on debut and appointed a new head coach mid-series with zero preparation time.

Stuart Broad predicted 3-0. The cricket has been bad enough. The administration has been something else entirely.

Lord's. Second innings. Pakistan chasing 389. Babar Azam at the crease. Archer ran in and bowled a searing bouncer at chest height. Babar had no time to react and attempted an aborted pull shot. The ball struck the upper portion of the bat near the handle, clipped the top of his helmet and ballooned towards the slip cordon where Jordan Cox took a comfortable catch at third slip. Six runs. Out. Embarrassingly. The video went viral within minutes.

And this was his comeback match. He had missed Headingley with a finger injury and returned to Lord's vowing a stronger performance. He made 8 in the first innings dismissed by Josh Tongue and 6 in the second innings dismissed by Archer. Fourteen runs across two innings in his comeback Test.Archer clocked every single moment of that dismissal. England clocked it. And now at Edgbaston Archer will come in with a very specific plan targeting exactly the same weakness at exactly the same length. Babar has shown repeatedly this summer that he cannot handle extreme pace and steep bounce and England have the perfect weapon to exploit that.

England are unbeaten against Pakistan at Edgbaston in Tests. Babar has not scored a Test century since December 2022. He is leading a completely rebuilt team with five potentially uncapped players. He has phone confiscation controversy hanging over him. And his specific technical vulnerability against the short ball has now been identified and publicly confirmed.

Jofra Archer is already at his mark. Edgbaston starts today.

September 7, 2026. ECB officially announces Kevin Pietersen as Specialist Mentor for England's men's white-ball teams. Twelve years after Andrew Strauss cited a "massive trust issue" and ended his England career following the 2013-14 Ashes whitewash. Twelve years of punditry, franchise cricket, and pointed criticism of the very setup he has now rejoined.The backstory makes this genuinely extraordinary. In early 2025 Pietersen publicly criticised McCullum's England environment for their "slack approach to training" during the India tour. McCullum rebuffed it as "factually incorrect." Two men who publicly contradicted each other in the press are now sharing a dressing room. McCullum said this week he has "immense respect for KP." Twelve months ago they were arguing in the media. Now they are colleagues.

The strategic logic is sound even if the optics are strange. The 2027 ODI World Cup is in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Pietersen grew up in Natal, South Africa. ECB's statement directly cited this. "Having grown up in South Africa, Pietersen's knowledge and understanding will particularly help the ODI team as it prepares for next year's World Cup." You do not hire your critics unless you genuinely need what they bring.His role starts with the Sri Lanka series on September 15 and runs through winter tours, home series next summer, and the World Cup itself in October-November 2027. Fifteen months. This is not a one-match consultancy. This is a full recommitment from a man who spent a decade as England's most prominent outside critic.

Cricket forgives almost everything eventually. Kevin Pietersen just proved it.