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IPL 2025 RR Head Coach, Support Staff – Complete List

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Dinesh
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IPL 2025 RR Head Coach

Rajasthan Royals – the Indian Premier League’s inaugural edition title winner have a unique fan base despite their continuous failures in the following seasons. The Rajasthan-based franchise who is still waiting to lift their second title gave their second best in the 2022 edition by finishing as runner-up of the season.

Rajasthan Royals is one of the eight teams that made their debut in the first edition of the Indian Premier League in 2008. The Royals team is based at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. They play their home matches at Sawai Mansingh Stadium and at ACA Stadium, Guwahati.

IPL 2025 RR Head Coach

Rajasthan Royals who played their last season without a full-time head coach have roped in former Indian cricketer and head coach Rahul Dravid as their head coach for the IPL 2025 season.

After the successful T20 World Cup campaign in the USA and West Indies, Rahul Dravid stepped down as the Indian head coach and was rumoured to coach an IPL team in the upcoming 2025 season.

As expected, the Royals franchise roped in the legendary cricketer in their coaching setup in a motive to lift their second IPL trophy in the next season of the IPL. Notably, Rahul Dravid played and captained the Royals franchise between 2011 and 2013 before being the mentor of the team for the 2014 season.

Fondly called Mr Dependable has played 164 Tests, and 344 ODIs between 1996 and 2012 and scored 13288 and 10889 runs for India.

Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid(Image: BCCI)

IPL 2025 RR Bowling Coach

New Zealand cricket coach and former cricketer Shane Bond is the Assistant and Fast Bowling Coach of the Rajasthan Royals. Former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond has replaced Lasith Malinga as the fast bowling coach ahead of the IPL 2024 season.

Shane Bond also has extensive experience in handling the bowling coach role. Before heading to Rajasthan Royals, Bond served Mumbai Indians between 2015 to 2020 and played a crucial role in the franchise winning four titles.

Apart from serving as the bowling coach in the IPL, Bond also coached various teams in other domestic T20 leagues. Shane Bond became an assistant coach for the Brisbane Heat for the 2015 edition of the Big Bash League and in March 2018, he was appointed as head coach for Sydney Thunder.

Shane Bond
Shane Bond(Image: BCCI)

IPL 2025 RR Fielding Coach

Former Indian cricketer and coach Dishant Yagnik who represented Rajasthan in domestic cricket was appointed as the Rajasthan Royals fielding coach in 2018 and remains a part of the team to date.

Before coaching RR, the wicketkeeper batter represented the Royals in 25 matches between IPL 2011 and IPL 2015. Dishant also played a couple of matches for the team in the Champions League T20.

Dishant Yagnik
Dishant Yagnik(Image: RR)

RR Coaching Staff 2025

Apart from having separate specialists for batting, bowling and fielding, teams will have multiple support staff to assist the team during the tournament. The complete list of RR coaching and support Staff details for the IPL 2025 are listed below:

Position Name
Head Coach Rahul Dravid
Assistant Coach Trevor Penney
Assistant and Fast Bowling Coach Shane bond
Fielding Coach Dishant Yagnik
Lead Strength and Conditioning coach AT Rajamani
Mental Performance Coach Nimrod Mon Brokman
Head Athletic Performance Michael Italiano
Head Physio John Gloster
Senior Physiotherapist Craig Antony
Assistant Physiotherapist Niranjan Pandit
Lead Analyst Panish Shetty
Team Doctor Mohammed Moosajee
Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara
Director of Analytics and Technology Giles Lindsay
Support Coach and Head of Coaching(RR Academy) Siddhartha Lahiri
Team Manager and Head of High-Performance Operations Romi Bhinder

Source: RR

FAQ

Who is the head coach of Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025?

Former Indian cricketer and head coach Rahul Dravid has been named as the Rajasthan Royals head coach for the IPL 2025 season.

Who is the bowling coach of Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025?

New Zealand cricket coach and former cricketer Shane Bond is the Assistant and Fast Bowling Coach of the Rajasthan Royals for the IPL 2025 season.

ALSO CHECK: IPL 2025 RCB Head Coach, Support Staff – Complete List

Pathum Nissanka’s Century Helps Sri Lanka Register First Test Win on England Soil

By
Johi
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Pathum Nissanka
Pathum Nissanka (image: X)

Pathum Nissanka’s maiden test century against England helped Sri Lanka to register their first test win on England soil.

Chasing a target of 219 runs, reached a total for the loss of two wickets before lunch on the fourth day, with Nissanka 127 runs not out and Angelo Matthews 32 runs not out forging a partnership of 111 runs, Sri Lanka secured a 8 wicket victory.

This is the fourth test win in England and the first since their last victory in 2014. However, England took the three-match series 2-1 after wins at Old Trafford and Lord’s.

England failed to clean sweep who whitewashed West Indies 3-0 earlier this season, failed to achieve a first home campaign since 2004 when Michael Vaughan oversaw seven successive wins.

While speaking in the post-match conference, Nissanka said “It was a great opportunity to play in England. Enjoyed that inning. It was slightly difficult in the morning but I had a positive mindset and went with that. Just wanted to play my normal game.”

“While England floundered this time around, they were pretty flawless over the course of the summer. Some of their selections were subject to widespread debate but by the end of the summer, most if not all of those decisions had been vindicated. Jamie Smith is perhaps the find of the season.”

“He’s shown incredible maturity and looks like he simply belongs to the international stage. Gus Atkinson’s has had an incredible two months as well, loads of wickets and a century at Lord’s.”

“Josh Hull probably didn’t really get enough time to show everything he’s got but he was pretty decent too.”

“Considering they lost their first-choice opener in Crawley and their skipper in Stokes halfway through, England can still be pretty pleased with their achievements. While it might not be the perfect and undefeated summer they were after, they got pretty damn close.”

“The scoreline might still say 2-1 to England but Sri Lanka can be very proud of what they’ve achieved both in this game and on the tour. Many expected England to walk all over Sri Lanka once more and finish the summer without a blot.”

“Sri Lanka, though, turned up and showed incredible tenacity. In the process, they’ve unearthed some great talents as well. Kamindu Mendis has drawn heaps of praise for his performances in the series and Pathum Nissanka, brought back into the side, played with incredible freedom and made a strong statement.”

“Milan Rathnayake was another revelation as well. He not only was consistent with the ball but also scored some crucial runs down the order. If anything, Sri Lanka’s middle order probably needs some work but they’re looking like a pretty competent side,” concluded Pathum Nissanka.

England secured sixth position while Sri Lanka secured fifth position in the WTC points table. Sri Lanka will be playing their next test against New Zealand starting on September 18 at Galle International Stadium.

Gus Atkinson Ruled Out in England’s Revised Squad for Australia ODIs

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Johi
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Gus Atkinson
Gus Atkinson (image: X)

The England Cricket Board has made a change in England’s ODI squad for the upcoming ODI series against Australia where Olly Stone will replace Gus Atkinson.

He was ruled out due to looking over his workload management after a busy summer. Playing only six tests, Gus Atkinson picked a haul of 34 wickets including a 12-wicket haul in his test debut.

He and Chris Wood were the seamers taking back-to-back wickets against Sri Lanka and West Indies. There were signs of Gus Atkinson being sidelined for the final stages against Sri Lanka as he spent time off the field on day three at The Oval with a tight quad, despite being fit enough to bowl 11 overs in the fourth innings of the match.

With him decided to be rested by the management, they have brought in Olly Stone as the replacement.

Olly Stone
Olly Stone (image: X)

England is set to travel to Pakistan and New Zealand to play tests, and with Mark Wood being ruled out due to an elbow injury, he will be working on reshaping his seam attack after the retirements of legendary bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson.

“I think he’s okay,” said stand-in captain Ollie Pope. “He’s obviously got a couple weeks off now just to refresh and move forward. He’s able to put his feet up now, but I think the way he bowled today and just chatting to him, he actually feels like it feels better today than it did when he first felt it so that’s a positive for us. Fingers crossed he’s all good.”

“Obviously from a batting point of view it’s different to the fast bowlers, but I think they’ll have a couple of weeks off just to refresh and get right for that,” Pope said.

“And I think pulling an England shirt on is the greatest honor, so I don’t think there needs to be much more motivation.”

“We love touring as a team and everything’s a new, exciting challenge. So I think from that point of view, that’s fine. I know it’s a short turnaround, but I think us as a team, we love every bit in an England shirt whenever we get the opportunity to pull it on.”

“So that won’t be an issue getting up for that. There’ll be a lot of excitement come the time ago to Pakistan.”

The first ODI match will be played on September 19 at Trent Bridge following the end of the T20I series.

England ODI Squad for Australia: Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, John Turner.

“Toughest Rivalry” Josh Hazlewood Hopes for Australia to Reclaim Border Gavaskar Trophy

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Johi
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Josh Hazlewood
Josh Hazlewood (image: X)

The Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood has hopes for Pat-Cummins is keen on ending India’s winning streak in the Border Gavaskar Trophy when India tour down in November – January.

The experienced pacer highlighted that Australia has not defeated India since his debut in 2014, adding Pat Cummins-led side is desperate to win the series in the upcoming home series.

India has won successive test series in Australia after the 2018-19 season. India fought back from the Adelaide Test humbling to breach the Gabba fortress and win the series 2-1 in 2020-21.

India has been dominating Australia at home stitching a winning streak that has extended to nearly 20 years.

While speaking in the much-anticipated test series, Hazlewood said Indian batters love playing in Australian conditions and talked up the firepower in the batting unit.

Border Gavaskar Trophy

“Yeah, probably sums it up there, toughest rivalry. It’s always a great challenge playing against India, and they are so used to the conditions out here, they love it. You know in Australia the challenge is huge. They’re batting their top order, no matter who’s playing, is unbelievable, their top six or seven,” Hazlewood said.

“I played them in my debut series, obviously, and we got the win, that might have been the last time. A lot of the same players are still playing, I think I got Virat that game. So a lot of our players, I guess, haven’t beaten India in a test series.”

“The guys were playing, such as Travis Head, Cameron Green, guys like that. So, yeah, huge summer for us coming up, and hopefully get that trophy back,” he added.

India is likely to be without Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahane who played a crucial role in India’s series wins in the last two tours. However, the income of young stars like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill will be enough to take on the Indian batting legacy while Sarfaraz Khan and KL Rahul‘s roles in the middle order will also become crucial.

Meanwhile, Australia’s test opener Usman Khawaja spoke about the rivalry India and Australia share, saying that it is a sign of respect that Indian teams take pride in beating the Aussies.

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been equal to that of Ashes and even some say IND vs AUS has surpassed the cricket’s oldest rivalry of ENG vs AUS.

“We’re world number one, world number two teams really over the last two years. We were there at the last World Test Championship together. The rivalry has always been huge.”

“I take it as a sign of respect and I know it that Indians love beating Australia in any sort of form of cricket. And the tradition that Australia has had over so many years as being one of the dominating teams in world cricket has staked that reputation,” Khawaja said.

“I think, yeah, for Indians, it’s always been the case to beat Australia. And more recently, you know, since the rise of India and IPL and everything else that happened, it’s the same way with Australia against India.”

“And particularly since India’s beaten Australia in Australia the last two times they’ve come out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It just means a little bit more,” concluded Khawaja.

The first test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy will be played between November 22 – 26 at Perth Stadium.

“But a Tail-Ender” Iftikhar Ahmed’s Remark on his Role in Pakistan Cricket

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Johi
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Iftikhar Ahmed opens on maiden ODI century
Iftikhar Ahmed (image: PCB)

Iftikhar Ahmed was frustrated after media referring him as middle order batter of his role within the Pakistan Cricket Team.

The 34-year-old has frequently changed batting positions in both T20Is and ODIs, referring to himself as a tailender. He has mostly batted on Position No. 05 – 07 in 66 T20Is.

While expressing his thoughts on his role, Iftikhar said, “I am not a middle-order player, I am a lower-order one. Not an all-rounder but a tail-ender because when you see I come out to bat at 7-8. Normal middle-order batters come out at 4 or 5 but I come in at 7 or 8. So I have realized that I am a tail-ender,” said Iftikhar Ahmed.

The 24-year-old has been used in the lower order where his primary role is that of a finisher like Tim David in Australia who is expected to strike big right from ball one.

But it could be that the veteran seems to have been frustrated by his current position within the Pakistan Cricket team.

Pakistan Cricket Team
Pakistan Cricket Team (image: X)

Iftikhar has faced challenges in this recent form. His maiden century came from a match against Nepal in Asia Cup 2023. Despite his experience, he struggled to find consistency at the international level.

In his T20I career, he scored 998 runs with an average of 24.34 and a strike rate of 129.10 including four half-centuries. Meanwhile, he amassed 614 runs in 28 ODIs with an average of 38.37 with a strike rate of 106.59 with a century and one fifty to his name.

His position within the side is also in doubt after Pakistan suffered a crushing defeat in an ICC tournament as they were eliminated in the group stages of the T20 World Cup 2024.

The test team also witnessed a series defeat 2-0 against Bangladesh at home for the first time in history. Despite the team has been questioned being asked of the management, players, and even the Pakistan Cricket Board, Pakistan hopes to return to the top.

Iftikhar will look to showcase his best performance with both bat and ball as he was named in the Dolphins in the Champions One Day 2024 which is set to be led by Mohammed Rizwan.

CSA announces South Africa Squad for White-Ball Games Against Afghanistan, Ireland

By
Johi
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South Africa

The CSA has announced the South Africa squad for the upcoming White ball games against Afghanistan and Ireland where several first-choice players were left out for the squad.

With the Champions Trophy set to be played in February, South Africa will be gearing up for the mega event by playing as much as ODIs before the event.

Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Tabraiz Shamsi, Gerald Coetzee, David Miller, and Heinrich Klaasen have been excluded from the tour.

The management has decided to bring in some new names for the tour. All-rounder Jason Smith who made his T20I debut against West Indies last month, has been given a maiden ODI call-up alongside Nqabayomzi Peter who recovered from should injury.

The 21-year-old all-rounder Andile Simelane has been part of South Africa Emerging and ‘A’ sides recently and has been named in both the ODI and T20I squad against Afghanistan.

Lungi Ngidi who suffered a calf injury during a Caribbean tour, has recovered and is anticipated to lead the attack. Kwena Maphaka has not been included in the squad as he is set to appear for his final school examinations.

Donovon Ferreira is the only other player from the West Indies T20I series who will not be on this tour, while Matthew Breetzek has been included in the T20I squad.

“We have decided to give opportunities to some of the fringe players as well as those who have impressed in recent weeks and months,” Rob Walter, South Africa’s white-ball coach, said in a statement.

“This has been a deliberate move from management, in line with our goal of building a wider pool of players to choose from, as we prepare for the major ICC tournaments taking place over the next 18 months, with a long-term view on the 50-over World Cup in 2027.”

South Africa squad for Afghanistan ODIs: Temba Bavuma (c), Ottneil Baartman, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Nqabayomzi Peter, Andile Simelane, Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams.

South Africa squad for Ireland T20Is: Aiden Markram (c), Ottneil Baartman, Matthew Breetzke, Nandre Burger, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Patrick Kruger, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton, Andile Simelane, Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs, Lizaad Williams

South Africa squad for Ireland ODIs: Temba Bavuma (c), Ottneil Baartman, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton, Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams

“If We Can Do Well” Shoriful Islam Expressed Confidence Ahead of India Tests

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Johi
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Shoriful Islam
Shoriful Islam (image: X)

The fast bowler Bangladesh Shoriful Islam has expressed his team’s determination to take over India in a two-match test series with their recent triumph over Pakistan.

Bangladesh scripted history by defeating Shan Masood-led Pakistan 2-0 to become the second team to whitewash Pakistan in a Test series on their home ground. Najmul Shanto’s side won both the sides played at Rawalpindi to whitewash the home side.

Shoriful admitted that defeating India in the home ground will be a different game. The left-arm seamers know that a solid performance against the two-time WTC finalists will be a massive advantage for Bangladesh.

“Compared to Pakistan, India are more experienced in Test cricket. India are a big team and I feel that if we do well against them, we will be followed worldwide and everyone will look at us. If we can do well in India, it will make us happy. We are working hard, and we hope for the results to go our way,” said Shoriful.

“We try and start with a win because we had a decent series against Pakistan. Everyone is confident, and we will try our best and make use of the confidence,” the 23-year-old added.

India are top of the WTC points table for the ongoing cycle and will look to consolidate their position against the Lions. Bangladesh has secured the no.4 points table after their historic win against Pakistan.

With BCCI announcing India’s squad for the 1st test, it will be interesting to see how Bangladesh names the squad and reacts to the opponents’ team.

The first test between India and Bangladesh will be played between September 19 and 23 at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, while the second test will be played at Green Park from September 27 onwards.

“Should Play Reverse-Sweep Against” Rishabh Pant Credits Ravi Shastri Ahead of Test Comeback

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Johi
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Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant (image: X)

The wk-batter Rishabh Pant has revealed game-changing advice from Ravi Shastri which guided him to play with freedom and express his natural flair on the field.

Pant has been struggling with playing aggressive shots against off-spinners and frequently losing his wickets in the process. On that occasion, Shastri came up with a strategy that helped the wicketkeeper batter.

Pant has played 33 tests so far and amassed 2271 runs, including an iconic knock for India of unbeaten 89 runs against Australia at Gabba in 2021.

In a recent interview, Pant opened up about the special bond he shared with Ravi Shastri during his tenure as India’s head coach.

“It was an amazing relationship. I had a great understanding with Ravi Shastri as he gave me the freedom I wanted. I don’t like it when someone tells me not to do a specific thing; instead, I prefer someone giving me a better option. I would rather switch to a better option than avoid anything,” said Pant.

Rishabh Pant and Ravi Shastri
Rishabh Pant and Ravi Shastri (image: X)

Pant displayed his stunning display in the Duleep Trophy 2024 match between India A and India B where he smashed fifty in just 34 balls and some serious mindblowing catches which earned him a place in the India squad for the 1st Bangladesh test.

“There was a time when I was getting out to off-spinners while playing shots against them. Ravi bhai was thinking about what he should tell me, then he came to me and told me that we have to find a way to tackle off-spinner. He told me that he had found a way and said, “You should play reverse-sweep against an off-spinner and this was about Test cricket,” he added.

The left-hander moved from 43 to 49 with an overhead six off Kuldeep Yadav and a ball later, he brought up the mini milestone with a single. He was an impressive batter for India B in the second innings with 61 innings off 47 balls laced with 9 fours and 2 sixes.

The first match of the home test series against Bangladesh will be played between September 19 and 23 at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

“You Go Back to the Days” Paul Collingwood Compares Jamie Smith to Gilchrist

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Johi
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Jamie Smith
Jamie Smith (image: X)

England’s assistant coach Paul Collingwood has drawn comparisons between wk-batter Jamie Smith to Australia great Adam Gilchrist as he took control of the third test of Sri Lanka’s tour of England 2024 on Sunday.

Smith scored 67 runs in England’s second innings, but Sri Lanka scored 94/1 by the stumps chasing the target of 219 and are keeping their chances alive in next year’s ICC WTC finals.

England already secured series victory 2-0 in a three-match series, suffered a top-order collapse as they were down to the last three wickets as they smashed 82/7 runs on the third day.

Smith’s outstanding 50-ball display, including 10 fours and a six, on his home ground helped them recover to 156 all out in their second innings.

On this occasion, England all-rounder Collingwood compared Smith to Gilchrist saying that he sees the same qualities in rising star Smith.

“He is certainly an entertainer,” Collingwood told. “You go back to the days of Adam Gilchrist when he came in at seven for Australia. He is going to put a lot of teams under pressure when you have the skills and the power he has.

“It sucks the life out of the opposition when someone has the ability to do something like that. He’s certainly shown some great skills in his short Test career.” – ‘Not one of our better days’ –

While Collingwood admitted Sri Lanka in the box seat cling to victory in the third test, he thinks his team is still capable of pulling claiming the nine remaining wickets and registering the series sweep.

“It certainly hasn’t been one of our better days of Test cricket this year,” said Collingwood. “It’s pretty easy to make the excuse and say it’s complacency but there’s plenty of fun and desire in there.

“We wanted a clean sweep. The lads are very proud of playing for England, so there’s certainly been no complacency coming into this match. The guys in the dressing room will hold their hands up.”

While speaking up about the third test “We still have an opportunity to go and win the match,” he said. “There’s enough in the pitch to get nine wickets but we need a lot of things to go our way.”

“If you look at the whole series, our bowlers had already done reasonably well, ” said former Pakistan paceman Javed.

“This game we went for the extra seamer and that paid off…We wanted to do well away from home and the fast bowlers have stood out.” Coming to the match, Sri Lanka needs 125 runs to avoid a series sweep at The Oval.

Champions One Day Cup 2024 Squads and Captains

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Johi
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Babar Azam
Babar Azam (Image: X)

The Champions One Day Cup 2024 is set to kick off in September which will be played in 50 over format between five teams.

Pakistan internationals will captain all the teams. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Saud Shakeel, and Mohammad Haris have been announced as captains for the domestic tournament.

Except for Mohammad Haris and Shadab Khan other internationals were part of the recently concluded Bangladesh tour of Pakistan 2024 where they suffered an utter defeat at the hands of visitors.

All the matches will be played at 03:00 PM. except for the Lions vs Panthers match on September 16 which will start at 09:30 AM. After the group stages, three playoff matches will be played in four days before commencing finals on September 29.

Out of 150 players to be featured in the tournament, 125 were the leading performers of the domestic seasons. The remaining 25 players will be selected by wildcards, selected based on their experience and performances for Pakistan.

Champions One Day Cup 2024 Squads

Dolphins

Saud Shakeel, Aftab Ibrahim, Asif Ali, Awais Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Kashif Ali, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Akhlaq, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Muhammad Riazullah, Noman Ali, Qasim Akram, Sameen Gul, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Sahibzada Farhan, Sufiyan Moqim, Umar Amin, Usman Qadir

Lions 

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abdullah Shafique, Aamir Jamal, Aamer Yamin, Faisal Akram, Hassan Nawaz, Hunain Shah, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Butt, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Asghar, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Taha, Omair Bin Yousuf, Rohail Nazir, Shahab Khan, Sharoon Siraj, Sirajuddin, Waqar Hussain

Panthers 

Shadab Khan, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Ahmed Bashir, Ali Asfand, Ali Raza, Amad Butt, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Haider Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Umar, Mohammad Zeeshan, Mubasir Khan, Rehan Afridi, Rizwan Mehmood, Saim Ayub, Umar Siddiq, Usama Mir, Usman Khan, Usman Salahuddin

Stallions 

Mohammad Haris, Abrar Ahmed, Adil Amin, Azam Khan, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Jahandad Khan, Junaid Ali, Maaz Ahmad Sadaqat, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Amir Khan, Saad Khan, Shamyl Hussain, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Ubaid Shah, Yasir Khan, Zaman Khan

Wolves

Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Abdul Samad, Akif Javed, Ali Usman, Bilawal Bhatti, Haseebullah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Faizan, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi, Muhammad Imran, Naseem Shah, Nisar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zahid Mehmood, Zain Abbas

Rishabh Pant Returns to India Squad for 1st Bangladesh Test

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Johi
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India Test Cricket Team
India Test Cricket Team(Image: Twitter)

The WK-batter Rishabh Pant is set to return for test cricket as BCCI has named him in the India Squad for 1st Bangladesh Test.

Meanwhile, Yash Dayal gets his maiden Call-up, and star players like Jasprit Bumrah, and Virat Kohli will be featuring in the tests. The ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah will return to international cricket for the first time after India’s T20 World Cup victory in June.

Along with him, Mohammed Siraj will lead the pace attack with Akash Deep and Dayal as the other two pacers.

India has opted for a spin attack with four spinners Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav. The Duleep Trophy was touted as the selection for the Indian test team. Pant who represented India B played a crucial role with 61 runs off 47 balls to help the side to set a target of 275 runs. He took a series of catches behind the stumps.

KS Bharat grabbed the eyes of the selector with a crucial contribution with the bat including a solid 90-run knock in the second test against England at Ranchi.

But, Pant will be considered the first-choice wicketkeeper. Pant has been an integral part of India’s white-ball format and was part of India’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2024.

Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer missed a spot in the squad. After being ruled out of the squad during England tests due to injury, he was dropped from BCCI central contracts as he remained unavailable for the Ranji Trophy.

Iyer played a crucial role in the Mumbai team leading them to a title win. He also captained KKR to the third IPL title, which was a crucial encounter for his comeback to the Indian team in the Sri Lanka tour.

After missing the England test series due to personal reasons, Virat Kohli will be featuring in the test format for the first time this year. The Sri Lanka tour exposed a spinn threat for Indian batters which keeps an eye on how they respond to Bangladesh’s spin attack. Sarfaraz Khan retained his spot while KL Rahul was added to the squad.

Bangladesh recently secured a 2-0 clean sweep victory over Pakistan and will be confident while taking India. The first test match of the test series will be played between September 19 and 23 at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

India squad for 1st Bangladesh Test: 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.

Moeen Ali announces international retirement

By
Dinesh
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Moeen Ali
Moeen Ali (image: ECB)

England all-rounder Moeen Ali has announced his retirement from international cricket and says “I’ve done my part”.

Moeen Ali made his international debut in 2014 against West Indies, scored 6678 international runs and picked 366 wickets. He was a part of the England senior men’s cricket team that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup.

Moeen last represented England in their semi-final loss to India at the 2024 T20 World Cup in Guyana.

“I’m 37 years old and didn’t get picked for this month’s Australia series. I’ve played a lot of cricket for England. It’s time for the next generation, which was also explained to me. It felt the time was right. I’ve done my part”, Moeen told Daily Mail in an interview.

As a youngster, Moeen tended towards batting, but in the England jersey, he developed his bowling well enough to become their leading bowler in the Tests.

While playing for the England test cricket team between 2014 and 2023, Moeen picked 204 Test wickets, making him the third-best England spinner in the format, sitting behind Derek Underwood (297) and Graeme Swann (255). Moreover, Moeen is only the 16th person to hit 3,000 runs and take 200 wickets in Tests.

“I’m very proud. When you first play for England, you don’t know how many games you’re going to play. So to play nearly 300… My first few years were all about Test cricket. Once Morgs [Eoin Morgan] took over the one-day stuff, that was more fun. But Test cricket was proper cricket”.

“Even now, I’ve tried to be realistic. I could hold on and try to play for England again, but I know in reality I won’t. Even retiring, I don’t feel it’s because I’m not good enough — I still feel I can play. But I get how things are, and the team needs to evolve into another cycle. It’s about being real to myself.

“People forget the impact you make in games. It might only have been 20 or 30, but it was a crucial 20 or 30. For me, it was about making an impact. I know what I brought to the side, on and off the field. As long as I felt people enjoyed watching me play, whether or not I did well, I was happy with that.”

Moeen also said that he will continue playing franchise cricket, and could later see himself getting involved in coaching. Moeen is currently plying his trade in CPL 2024 with the defending champions, Guyana Amazon Warriors.

“A bit of franchise cricket, because I still love playing. But coaching is something I want to do — I want to be one of the best. I can learn a lot from Baz [Brendon McCullum]. I hope people remember me as a free spirit. I played some nice shots and some bad shots, but hopefully, people enjoyed watching me.”

In total in his decade-long career, Moeen played 68 Tests, 138 ODIs, and 92 T20Is and scored 3094, 2355, and 1229 runs respectively. With the ball, the batting allrounder scalped 204, 111, and 51 wickets respectively.

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