Dubai (TIP) – India enters the Champions Trophy 2025 Final in Dubai on Sunday in excellent form, having secured four wins in the tournament, as per the official website of ICC.
India’s tournament opener saw them prevail in a tight contest against Bangladesh in Dubai, registering a sizzling six-wicket victory to begin their campaign on a winning note.
Pacer Mohammed Shami’s impressive 5/53, combined with three scalps from Harshit Rana and two from Axar Patel, restricted Bangladesh to 228.
Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 101*, combined with stylish knocks from Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, ensured smooth sailing for India as they reached the Tigers’ total with 21 balls to spare.
In their high-voltage clash against arch-rivals Pakistan, India displayed their all-round prowess by chasing down 241 runs with six wickets in hand.
Kuldeep Yadav weaved his magic for the Indian side by taking three crucial wickets to bundle out Pakistan for 241 in 49.4 overs.
Shubman Gill (46) and Shreyas Iyer (56) came up with some crucial knocks, but the age-old rivalry was marked primarily by a Virat Kohli masterclass that saw him score an unbeaten 100 to steer India to victory.
A different challenge for Rohit Sharma’s side in the form of New Zealand, with the winner staying unbeaten at the tournament and earning the top spot in Group A. Though when these two sides met, they had both already qualified for the semi-final stage.
New Zealand’s bowlers did well to restrict India’s batting line-up, with Shreyas Iyer (79) and Hardik Pandya (45) leading the way as the Asian side posted a competitive total of 249/9 after they were sent in to bat first.
It was the Varun Chakravarthy show in reply, with the spinner claiming an impressive five-wicket haul to help bowl New Zealand out for just 205, as India progressed through to the final four with their unbeaten record intact.
India qualified for the Champions Trophy final by taking down another of their top rivals, Australia.
The bowlers applied pressure throughout the Aussies’ batting innings, restricting them to 264 all out in the 50th over, consistently finding key wickets throughout. Mohammed Shami chipped in with three big wickets, while spinners Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja grabbed a couple.
Tag: Axar Patel
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India in top form ahead of Champions Trophy 2025 final in Dubai
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India defeat England to barge into T20 World Cup Final
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA (TIP): Skipper Rohit Sharma’s grace was matched by the might of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav as India exorcised the ghosts of 2022 by handing defending champions England a 68-run thrashing to enter the final of the T20 World Cup here on Thursday, June 27.
Rohit thus became the first Indian captain to lead the country in three ICC global finals in a space of 12 months — 2023 World Test Championship, 2023 ODI World Cup and now the T20 World Cup.
The Indian skipper, who has always received flak for not scoring on big days, contributed an invaluable 57 off 39 balls on a track where the ball consistently kept low, as India posted 171 for 7 in 20 overs.
Credit should also be given to Suryakumar Yadav for his 47 off 36 balls and Hardik Pandya for his two mighty sixes in a 13-ball-23. Ravindra Jadeja (17) and Axar Patel (10) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, England lost five wickets at the halfway stage and never recovered to be all out for 103 in 16.4 overs.
Axar (3/23 in 4 overs) and Kuldeep Yadav (3/19 in 4 overs) shared the spoils with the ball. The redoubtable Jasprit Bumrah (2/12 in 2.4 overs) did his bit with a classic slow off-cutter that saw the back of the dangerous Phil Salt. The 2007 champions will meet South Africa in the final in Barbados on Saturday, June 29.
(Source: PTI) -
Ashwin rises to 2nd, Jadeja enters top 10 among bowler in ICC Test rankings
Dubai (TIP)- India’s Ravichandran Ashwin rose a place to second, while his compatriot Ravindra Jadeja jumped seven rungs to be among the top-10 bowlers in the latest ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings issued here on Wednesday, February 22. Jadeja has progressed to the ninth position after his 10-wicket match haul in the second Test against Australia in New Delhi, the first time that he had broken in the top-10 since September 2019.
Injured pacer Jasprit Bumrah is the other Indian bowler in top-10, as he occupies the fifth spot.
Veteran England seamer James Anderson leads the list but Australia captain Pat Cummins has dropped two places to third. Axar Patel’s late-order heroics have pushed him into the top five in all-rounders’ list, which is being headed by Jadeja and Ashwin. Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne continues to top the Test batters list, followed by Steve Smith and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.
India’s Rishabh Pant, who is out of action for an indefinite period following a horrific car crash, is static at sixth, while skipper Rohit Sharma continues to be seventh.
England batters Ollie Pope (up six places to 23rd), Harry Brook (up 12 places to 31st) and Ben Duckett (up 13 places to 38th) have achieved career-best rankings, as have New Zealand’s Tom Blundell and Devon Conway. Blundell’s first innings knock of 138 has lifted him four places to 11th while Conway’s 77 has helped him move up five places to 17th. Source: PTI
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India rout England by 10 wickets inside two days of third Test
Ahmedabad (TIP): India registered only their second Test victory inside two days, overhauling a meagre target of 49 against England in the day-night third game to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series here on Thursday, February 26. The last time India won inside two days in a Test was in 2018, beating Afghanistan in Bengaluru. England”s previous Test loss inside two days came way back in 1921 against Australia. There was no end to England”s batting woes against the spin duo of Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin as the side folded for 81 in its second innings. This was the team”s lowest Test total against India. Openers Rohit Sharma (25) and Shubman Gill (15) then completed the formalities in 7.4 overs, barely half an hour into the final session of the day. Earlier, Patel picked five wickets in the English second essay, adding to his outstanding haul of six in the first innings. His became the best bowling performance in a pink-ball match.
Ashwin, on the other hand, added four more to his first-day spoils of three scalps to cross the 400-wicket mark in the longest format.
He became the fourth Indian after Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (417) to achieve the feat.
England”s scorecard bore a dismal look with all-rounder Ben Stokes 25 and Ollie Pope”s 12 being the best contributions.
In the afternoon session, India”s first innings folded for 145 with opener Rohit Sharma top-scoring with a 66-run knock. England captain Joe Root returned career-best figures of 5/8 for his team.
Ashwin Becomes Fastest Indian To 400 Test Wickets
India off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin became the fastest Indian bowler to 400 Test wickets on Thursday. Ashwin, playing his 77th Test, was on 397 wickets at the end of England’s first innings of the ongoing third Test and dismissed England batsmen Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope and Jofra Archer in the second innings to get to the milestone. Ashwin is only behind Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan in the list of fastest players to 400 wickets in Tests. Muralitharan got there in just 72 matches. Other Indians to have picked more than 400 wickets are Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (417).
Ashwin opened his account in the second innings by trapping Stokes lbw and then followed it with bowling Ollie Pope.
The 400th wicket was Jofra Archer, who missed with an expansive sweep shot as the ball hit him low on the pad. India appealed and the on-field umpire gave it out.
Ashwin’s moment was briefly interrupted as Archer reviewed the decision only for DRS to return three reds and complete a well-deserved feat for India’s premier off spinner.
Ashwin picked three wickets in England’s first innings where the visitors were bowled out for 112.
The 34-year-old has been in good form with both bat and ball in this series, having picked up 23 wickets in the series thus far and scored 176 runs including a century in the second innings of the second Test.
He became the fourth-highest wicket taker for India in international cricket on Day 1 of the third Test as he went past Zaheer Khan’s tally of 597 wickets.
In addition to 400 Test wickets, Ashwin has 150 wickets in ODIs and 52 in T20Is since his international debut in 2010.