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Bollywood Mascot: Zanai Bhosle, granddaughter of legendary singer Asha Bhosle, recently found herself at the center of attention following a photo that went viral on social media. In the image, Zanai is seen sharing a light moment with Indian cricketer Mohammed Siraj at a birthday celebration. The two appeared to be having a good time, leading to speculation that they were dating. However, Zanai quickly took to Instagram to dispel these rumors, clarifying the true nature of their relationship.

In her Instagram story, Zanai shared the same photo with a caption that read, “My dear brother,” effectively putting an end to the dating rumors. Siraj, in turn, also took to social media to express his feelings, calling Zanai “my sister” in a post that further solidified their sibling-like bond. He even included a heartfelt caption, saying, “There is no sister like my sister. I cannot stay anywhere without her. Like the moon among stars,...

New Delhi, May 22 (Ians) With the group stage of Ipl 2023 coming to an end on Sunday, players like talismanic batter Virat Kohli, ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj will be among the seven players to leave for England on Tuesday ahead of the World Test Championship (Wtc) final against Australia set to happen from June 7-11 at The Oval in London.

A report in Sportstar says in all eleven cricketers — comprising seven squad members, a reserve and three support bowlers — along with the support staff will leave for England in the early hours of Tuesday. It added that apart from Kohli, Ashwin and Siraj, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav and Jaydev Unadkat will be leaving for England too.

The report added that both Unadkat and Umesh, who were nursing shoulder and hamstring injuries during Ipl 2023, had been passed fit by experts at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru, May 22 (Ians) Shubman Gill sizzled with an unbeaten 104 off 52 balls as while sharing a crucial 123-run partnership off 71 balls with Vijay Shankar to help Gujarat Titans beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets in final league match of Ipl 2023 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.

After Virat Kohli slammed his second consecutive hundred of Ipl 2023, and carried his bat through the innings to power Bangalore to a competitive 197/5, Gill shined with his scintillating strokeplay to hit five fours and eight sixes at a strike-rate of 200 to break countless hearts of crowd at the stadium by hunting down the total with five balls to spare.

The result in Bengaluru also means that five-time champions Mumbai Indians sealed last remaining spot for the playoffs and will face Lucknow Super Giants in the eliminator on May 24 at the Ma Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Chasing 198, Wriddhiman Saha and Gill hit two fours...

Bengaluru, May 22 (Ians) After a long wait of 55 minutes for Sunday’s game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans to start due to rain, the crowd at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium was treated to spectacular one-man show from Virat Kohli, who coasted to his second consecutive century through an unbeaten 61-ball 101.

Kohli’s efforts of carrying his bat through the innings with 13 fours and a six at a strike-rate of 165.57 meant Bangalore posted a competitive 197/5, giving hopes to their die-hard fans in the stadium about reaching the playoffs and keeping the quest for the elusive trophy alive.

But Shubman Gill, the heir apparent of Kohli in the Indian batting line-up, sizzled with an unbeaten 104 off 52 balls, also his second straight Ipl century, laced with hitting five fours and eight sixes at a strike-rate of 200 to break countless Bangalore-supporting hearts in the stadium and steal Kohli’s thunder.

He also shared...

Hyderabad, May 19 (Ians) Virat Kohli’s excellent century (100 off 63) and Faf du Plessis’ fine fifty (71 off 47) outclassed Heinrich Klaasen’s hundred and led Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rcb) to a thumping eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (Srh) in Match No. 65 of Indian Premier League (Ipl) 2023 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, here on Thursday.

With this win, Rcb jumped to the fourth position in the table having 14 points in 13 matches and boosted their Playoff chances. On the other hand, Srh remained at the bottom of the table with just four wins in 13 games.

South African wicket-keeper batter Klaasen’s maiden Ipl century (104 off 51) propelled Sunrisers Hyderabad (Srh) to 186/5 in 20 overs. After Klaasen, Harry Brook (27 off 19) was the second-best scorer for Srh. Both Klaasen and Brook stitched a quickfire stand of 74 runs for the fourth wicket. On the other hand, Michael Bracewell was the most successful bowler for Rcb with his superb 2-13.

Chasing 187 to win,...

Hyderabad, May 18 (Ians) Virat Kohli’s excellent century (100 off 63) and Faf du Plessis’ fine fifty (71 off 47) helped Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rcb) thrash Sunrisers Hyderabad (Srh) by eight wickets in Match No. 65 of Indian Premier League (Ipl) 2023 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, here on Thursday.

With this win, Rcb jumped to the fourth position in the table having 14 points in 13 matches and boosted their playoff chances. On the other hand, Srh remained at the bottom of the table with just four wins in 13 games.

South African wicket-keeper batter Heinrich Klaasen’s maiden Ipl century (104 off 51) propelled Sunrisers Hyderabad (Srh) to 186/5 in 20 overs. After Klaasen, Harry Brook (27 off 19) was the second-best scorer for Srh. Both Klaasen and Brook stitched a quickfire stand of 74 runs for the fourth wicket. On the other hand, Michael Bracewell was the most successful bowler for Rcb with his superb 2-13.

Chasing 187 to win, Virat Kohli looked in...

After taking home the Emerging Player of the Tournament award, Malik made his T20I and Odi debut for India in the same year, impressing legends of the game with the chances he got. But in Ipl 2023, Malik has played only seven matches, picking five wickets at an economy rate of 10.35 and is yet to play this month.

Malik’s conspicuous absence from the playing eleven raised further eyebrows through the words of Hyderabad skipper Aiden Markram after the toss against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday.

"Not too sure to be honest. Certainly, he’s a player with the X-factor, bowls at 150kph, but I don’t really know what’s behind the scenes but he has a lot of X-factor," he said.

Now former India left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan expressed disappointment over how the franchise has handled a bright talent like Malik. "I think Umran Malik has not been...

Hyderabad, May 18 (Ians) South African wicket-keeper batter Heinrich Klaasen’s attacking century (104 off 51) propelled Sunrisers Hyderabad (Srh) to 186/5 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rcb) in Match No. 65 of Indian Premier League (Ipl) 2023 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, here on Thursday.

After Klaasen, Harry Brook (27 off 19) was the second-best scorer for Srh. Both Klaasen and Brook stitched a quickfire stand of 74 runs for the fourth wicket.

Put in to bat first, Sunrisers Hyderabad were off to a slow start as Rcb pacers Mohammed Siraj and Wayne Parnell kept the openers — Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi — on a tight leash.

Srh got some momentum in Parnell’s second over with the openers hitting the pacer for 16 runs. However, New Zealand spinner Michael Bracewell dismissed both openers in his first over to put a halt to the scoring rate.

Abhishek (11) got out while playing a cut shot while Tripathi (15) could only loft his shot...

New Delhi, May 17 (Ians) Former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop commended Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami for his exceptional performance in Ipl 2023 and praised his ability to take wickets during the powerplay overs.

Bishop highlighted the significance of early breakthroughs in comparison to wickets taken towards the end of an innings, emphasising Shami’s effectiveness in getting crucial dismissals upfront.

He further drew parallels between Shami’s bowling style and the successful spells by fellow Indian pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Siraj, emphasising Shami’s ability to consistently bowl a challenging line and length with a hint of movement.

Bishop hailed Shami’s contributions in breaking the opposition’s run chase and hailed him as an outstanding bowler, particularly in recent seasons.

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop said, “He’s got 15 powerplay wickets. It tells you the value of wickets up front versus wickets at the back end.

New Delhi, April 3 (Ians) Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rcb) pacer Mohammed Siraj opened up on online trolling and also shared his experience that one day he was projected as the “future of Indian bowling” and the other day was asked to “drive an auto”.

Siraj began his Ipl 2023 well with an economical bowling display in Rcb’s game against Mumbai Indians, where he dominated the Mi batters with the new ball. He conceded 21 runs and picked up a wicket.

Since his impressive performance in the Australia 2020/21 Test series, Mohammed Siraj has experienced a sensational rise, He also reached the top of the Odi bowlers’ rankings before the Australia series earlier this year.

Speaking on the latest episode of Rcb podcast, Siraj said: “It is easy to write abuses. But you don’t know anything about his struggle. How can you abuse someone then? Those messages kill your motivation. A guy is...

Bengaluru, April 3 (Ians) Mumbai Indians’ bowling coach Shane Bond lauded Mohammed Siraj for his exceptional bowling in the opening spell, stating that Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rcb) pacer used his bouncer to great effect, forcing Mi batters to take shots that ultimately resulted in wickets.

Siraj finished with figures of 1-21 in his four overs, with a crucial wickets of opener Ishan Kishan, who gave Mi a nice start.

He got the early breakthrough for Rcb as he had Kishan caught at third man in the third over. He had bowled a tight first over, giving away just two runs.

He could have had the big wicket of Rohit Sharma inside the powerplay as the Mi captain top-edged a pull but a miscommunication between Siraj and Dinesh Karthik led to a collision and the ball fell in between them.

“You look at those first three overs from Siraj. He didn’t give any width,...

Bengaluru, April 3 (Ians) While praising young left-handed batter Tilak Varma for his unbeaten 84 off just 46 balls, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma admitted that rest of the batting line-up didn’t bat very well on a pitch which was good to bat upon.

Pushed into batting first, Mumbai crumbled to 48/4 and then to 123/7 at one stage, looking in danger of being shot out for a below-par total. But Varma stood tall and impressed everyone with his skill and temperament in hitting nine boundaries and four sixes at a strike-rate of 182.6, as Mumbai got 69 runs from the last five overs.

“Didn’t have a great start but was a good effort from Tilak at the end. But the bowlers didn’t bowl well. We didn’t bat well enough, it was a good pitch. Some of the shorts he played today, he showed a lot of courage.

We wanted to be courageous enough,...

Bengaluru, April 2 (Ians) Scintillating half-centuries from Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli powered Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rcb) to a thumping eight-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in an Ipl 2023 match, marking a happy homecoming at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, here on Sunday.

As Rcb took the field in Chinnaswamy Stadium after 1247 days, chants of the franchise engulfed the whole arena. To their credit, Rcb didn’t disappoint at all, as bowlers got wickets in power-play and middle overs to keep Mumbai to 171/7, though young Tilak Varma shined with an outstanding 84 not out off just 46 balls.

In reply, du Plessis and Kohli put out an exhibition of majestic strokeplay and rattled Mumbai’s bowling attack to enthrall home fans. While du Plessis made 73 off 43 balls, including five fours and six sixes, Kohli was in sublime touch to be 82 not out off 49 balls, laced with six fours and five sixes to chase 172 in...

Bengaluru, April 2 (Ians) Young left-handed batter Tilak Varma smashed an unbeaten 84 off just 46 balls to steer Mumbai Indians to 171/7 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in an Ipl 2023 match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, here on Sunday.

Pushed into batting first, Mumbai crumbled to 48/4 and then to 123/7 at one stage, looking in danger of being shot out for a below-par total. But Varma stood tall and impressed everyone with his skill and temperament in hitting nine boundaries and four sixes at a strike-rate of 182.6, as Mumbai got 69 runs from the last five overs.

Ishan Kishan gave Mumbai a nice start by slamming Reece Topley twice through cover for a brace of boundaries. But Kishan fell in the third over, as his attempt to flick off Mohammed Siraj took a fat leading edge to short third man.

Cameron Green started well with a drive, but was cleaned bowled by a Reece Topley yorker...