A Spike In Crowd Anticipated As Rohit Sharma And Co. To Feature In Ranji Trophy
Fresh from a break after their recent tour to Australia, India’s marquee players such as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are set to feature wearing their respective Ranji Trophy kits. Will Rohit Sharma And Yashasvi Jaiswal Open The Batting Together? Mumbai’s game against Jammu & Kashmir at the BKC Ground will garner plenty of attention, especially with Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal possibly opening together. With Mumbai in the hunt for a top-two finish in Group A, their lineup also features Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Shardul Thakur and Shivam Dube. However, without Sarfaraz Khan, owing to a rib injury, Mumbai face a dilemma in managing to accommodate an in-form opener like Ayush Mhatre in his debut first-class season. Is Virat Kohli Set To Make A Ranji Return? Recovering from neck spasm aside, Virat Kohli will not feature in the next round of Ranji Trophy. He should be back for the final round from January 30, though-when Delhi entertains Railways. Kohli will now have only four days to switch gears from first-class cricket to the Indian ODI squad for this crunch series with England, where much is at stake as it will be the last ODI outing before Champions Trophy. How Much A Difference Will Rishabh Pant Make For Delhi? Despite Virat Kohli’s possible return, Delhi will have Rishabh Pant for their crucial match against Saurashtra starting January 23, 2025 in Rajkot. Pant will be playing his first Ranji game since December 2017, however, won’t be leading the side. Ayush Badoni will captain the team instead, with Pant focusing on his role in the team. The game is pivotal for both Delhi and Saurashtra, as both teams need a win to stay in the knockout race. How Good Will Shubman Gill Be For Punjab? Shubman Gill will come back to the domestic circuit, playing for Punjab, against Karnataka, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The Indian batting may just be done watching Gill at a tour that started rather torturous against Australia; after averaging 18.60 in five innings, the opener would seek a good form restoration ahead of Ranji Trophy. However, their bench is enriched by Gill’s comeback. Their three men left for the India’s T20I squad of England tour will not play Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Singh. Karnataka, fresh off winning the Vijay Hazare Trophy, will see Prasidh Krishna and Devdutt Padikkal return to their XI. Which Injuries Are Affecting Key Players In The Ranji Trophy? Bengal will lack two important players as injuries have been carried out on Akash Deep and Abhimanyu Easwaran. Akash Deep is ruled out from the game because of the back issue, while finger fracture sidelines Easwaran for approximately three weeks. Mohammed Siraj will also not be a part of Hyderabad’s team due to workload management as he played all five test matches in Australia. Who Are The Emerging Players To Watch In The Ranji Trophy? One of the players to keep an eye on will be Karun Nair, fresh off a great Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign with five centuries and 772 runs and with Vidarbha all but confirmed for the Ranji knockouts, he has a few more chances to make his case for a spot in India’s Test middle-order ahead of the focus on the England tour. Which Indian star do you think is set to make a strong comeback in the second leg of Ranji Trophy? The Sportz Planet Desk,Atharva Shetye
Rishabh Pant Set To Lead Lucknow Super Giants In IPL 2025
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have crowned Rishabh Pant as their new Captain, the franchise declared on Monday in Kolkata. Rishabh Pant Is The Costliest Player In IPL History Rishabh Pant was bought for a record-breaking INR 27 crore in the November 2024 IPL auction by LSG. He is now the most expensive player in IPL history. This will be Pant’s second IPL team after being the captain of Delhi Capitals (DC) during the 2021, 2022, and 2024 seasons. Injuries due to the severity of the hurt did not allow him to participate in the 2023 season. Rishabh Pant Moves From Delhi Capitals To Lucknow Super Giants Rishabh Pant made a move from DC after the franchise decided not to retain him as Captain even as they offered a place in the squad. He was subsequently opened up to entering the auction process, which the LSG side took to his advantage as he was signed on, in a bid to provide an Indian skipper, since KL Rahul bade goodbye from the outfit. Rahul had captained LSG from 2022 to 2024. In the first two seasons, he took LSG to the playoffs. In 2024, LSG finished seventh. The tensions between Rahul and the owner of the team, Sanjiv Goenka, were visibly visible in the match. This is the reason Rahul moved to Delhi Capitals. Rishabh Pant’s Record-Breaking Auction Victory for LSG After leading DC for several seasons, Rishabh Pant entered the auction ahead of IPL 2025 at a base price of INR 2 crore. The bidding was competitive, with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) challenging LSG. The Super Giants secured Pant for INR 27 crore after a dramatic back-and-forth, breaking the IPL auction record. Rishabh Pant Leads New-Look Lucknow Super Giants Squad LSG had actively been on a lookout for captaincy after deciding to let go of KL Rahul, and their first choice proved to be Rishabh Pant. Pant formed the core acquisition of the IPL franchise, helping LSG’s strategy of reinforcing their pace-bowling bench with Indian talent as well as signing foreign stars from Avesh Khan and Akash Deep up to Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh or David Miller. Rishabh Pant To Team Up with Justin Langer and Zaheer Khan Rishabh Pant will now head the Lucknow Super Giants along with head coach Justin Langer and mentor Zaheer Khan as they look to form a new competitive team for the upcoming IPL season. However, one question still remains hanging. Will a change in Captain bring a change in fortunes for the Lucknow Super Giants? The Sportz Planet Desk,Atharva Shetye
IND vs BAN: Rishabh Pant Belts A Breezy Century On Test Comeback
Rishabh Pant has just performed a comeback for the ages! After a long 634 days away from test match cricket-talk about a long vacation-he strode back onto the field against Bangladesh and scored his sixth test match century. It’s like Rishabh Pant never left! Pant At Par With MS Dhoni With this dazzling performance, Pant tied the record with MS Dhoni for most test match centuries by an Indian wicketkeeper. If there was a comeback award, Rishabh Pant would be a hands-down winner. Pressure? What Pressure? After a lackluster 39 runs in the first innings, the stage was quite laid out for Pant to shine in the second. India wobbly at 67/3, he stepped out like he owned the place. Channeling his inner superhero, Rishabh Pant soaked in the pressure like a sponge before unleashing a batting display that saw Bangladesh’s bowlers spinning circles in a dizzy daze. Talking about luck? Bangladesh’s captain dropped him on 72—ouch! But Pant took it as a sign to keep the runs rolling. Batting Bonanza Sharing the limelight with Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant brought his century shortly after lunch on day three, treating the crowd to his trademark single-handed six. It was like watching a magician perform tricks. Pant’s batting was a dazzling mix of calculated caution and audacious aggression as he nearly became impossible to keep pace with for the visitors. By the time Rishabh Pant departed at 109, he had practically batted Bangladesh out of the match, setting a daunting target of over 450 runs. A Century with Heart Well, this was no ordinary century. It was Rishabh Pant’s first across formats since surviving a life-threatening accident nearly two years ago. Rishabh Pant’s return to test match cricket does not just read as a personal victory, however it reminds us all that comebacks come at an extraordinary price. Rishabh Pant is back and here to stay–let’s see what more magic he has up his sleeve! The Sportz Planet Desk,Atharva Shetye
IND vs BAN: Rahul & Pant Return, Yash Dayal’s Big Break
Good news for all the cricket lovers out there! India’s squad for the two-match Test series against Bangladesh has been announced, and the familiar arsenal is back. First, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant return after being ruled out because of injuries. Both are geared up to light the field once again in the two-match series, starting in Chennai on September 19 at the iconic M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. With these two heavyweights being thrown into the mix, things just got a lot more interesting. Pant’s Road to Redemption Remember that heart-stopping car accident which sent Rishabh Pant into exile? Well, he is back with a bang! Making his Test comeback after almost a year, Pant is fresh off a solid half-century for India B in the Duleep Trophy and has got redemption on his mind; Bangladesh might just be the perfect playground for his return to form. Yash Dayal is the new kid on the block. The left-arm pacer among the squad headlines for a Test call-up for the very first time! Big moment to say the least, while Pant and Rahul steal the spotlight; Dayal gets his chance to make a name for himself on the grand stage. Shami Sits Out, Akash Steps In While the experienced pacer Mohammed Shami is still recovering from Achilles surgery, Akash Deep replaces him, having shaken up England’s lineup with nine wickets on his debut. He will surely be hoping to work a little magic again against Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s Wave of Victory By the way, Bangladesh are not arriving in India on a whimper, but on a clean sweep of Pakistan 2-0 at home for the first time. This is going to be one fiery series. Team India Squad For Test Matches vs Bangladesh Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal. The Sportz Planet Desk,Atharva Shetye
IPL 2024: How Ayurveda and Sports Science Helped Rishabh Pant?
All eyes were on Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant at the start of the IPL 2024. It won’t be wrong to say that he has done more than enough to warrant a place back in the Indian T20 squad for the World Cup in the West Indies and the US. He is already the leading run-getter for Delhi in IPL 2024. In 11 matches. Pant has slammed 398 runs at an average of 44.22, and a strike rate of 158.56, thus putting the speculations to rest, about his fitness. All of this looked highly impossible, a year-and-a-half-back, when Rishabh Pant met with a brutal car crash in December 2022. Since then, Rishabh had been on the sidelines, watching his teammates play, and also cheering for them. However, he never gave up on his dream to play for India again. The road was tough, and he was ready to do the hard yards. The BCCI has also posted videos of Pant’s road to recovery. One of the biggest roadblocks during the recovery was to get Pant back in shape, which will allow him to play cricket, freely. As per reports, Pant lost 16 kilograms in the last four months, through rigorous training, diet, and discipline. He clearly had to play in the IPL 2024, much to the surprise of the doctors who treated him.. So, what all Rishabh Pant have to go through, during this tough period? Here’s a snapshot: 1. Taking Care of His StomachPant started by making his stomach healthier using a special powder made from herbs and spices. This helped him digest food better and avoided tummy troubles. 2. Eating KhichdiFor the first two weeks of his recovery, Pant ate a lot of Khichdi, a simple dish made of rice and lentils. It gave him all the nutrition he needed and was easy to digest. 3. Following Ayurvedic PrinciplesPant’s diet matched his body’s natural balance, focusing on home-cooked meals to help him heal and feel more energetic. 4. Drinking Healthy JuicesTo help with stomach problems, Pant drank special juices made from carrots, beets, amla, mint, coriander, celery, and cucumber. These ingredients helped reduce inflammation and acidity in his stomach. 5. Watching His PortionsBesides eating healthy, Pant also made sure to control how much he ate to help him lose weight. 6. Working OutPant’s fitness routine included exercises like deadlifts and rowing to help him burn fat and build muscle. Rishabh Pant used different kinds of exercises to lose weight. A lot of these methods were based on sports science, which helps athletes improve their performance in a safe and effective way. Additionally, he may have incorporated specific workout routines tailored to burn fat and build muscle effectively. Sports Psychologist Dr. MN Viswanath while speaking to the Sportz Planet, emphasized on the mental state of Pant, during the last four months. He went on calling Pant as a fighter with a positive mental attitude. “Rishabh Pant was positive, hopeful, optimistic and determined throughout the rehabilitation peroid. He returned to the Delhi Capitals team for IPL 2024. His decent performances in IPL has earned him a place for the T20 World Cup.” Dr. Viswanath M said. Sports science also encompasses techniques for improving endurance, agility, and overall athletic performance, which Pant may have incorporated into his training regimen to achieve his weight loss goals. With the guidance of sports science professionals, Pant would have likely followed a structured and evidence-based approach to his weight loss journey, ensuring both safety and effectiveness. Now, with Pant back to near full fitness, it would be interesting to see whether his body can stand the demands of international cricket. So far, the signs have been good, and hopefully, Pant will take care of his physique to serve Indian cricket for a very long time. The Sportz Planet Desk,Atharva Shetye