Cricket

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), a perennial underachiever in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has once again disappointed its fans in the 2024 season. With six defeats in seven matches, RCB languishes at the bottom of the 10-team points table.Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag believes the lack of Indian support staff is a major issue for RCB. "If you have 12-15 Indian players, just 10 overseas and your entire staff is made of foreigners, that's an issue," Sehwag said. "Players need a comfort level which they are not getting presently."Manoj Tiwary, another former India player, points to poor recruitment as another problem. "All the good players of this franchise leave to go and play for other teams," Tiwary said. "You let them go. You don't persist with Virat Kohli's captaincy."Tiwary also criticized RCB's bowling, calling it "not a problem." "They don't have a specialist spinner," he said. "You're making Will Jacks open the bowling. Sometimes Mahipal Lomror and even some of the on-field captaincy calls are terrible."Despite the dismal start, RCB still has a mathematical chance of making the playoffs. However, they will need to win almost all of their remaining matches and hope for other results to go their way.

Virender Sehwag, the former Indian opener known for his witty remarks, recently made headlines with his hilarious commentary during the IPL 2024 match between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. In a video that went viral on social media, Sehwag took a humorous jab at his former IPL team, Punjab Kings."When I joined Punjab, my strike rate dropped," Sehwag said on Star Sports. "They say you behave like the company you keep. And the company there was like that. They didn't win, they didn't play well, so my game also suffered."Sehwag played for Punjab Kings for two seasons before retiring after IPL 2015. During his IPL career, he scored 2728 runs in 104 matches at an impressive strike rate of 155.44. He was part of the Punjab team that finished runners-up in 2014 under the captaincy of George Bailey. Sehwag also served as Punjab's mentor from 2016 to 2018.Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals, and RCB are the only teams in IPL history yet to win the title. In their second match of the season, Punjab suffered a four-wicket defeat against RCB in Bengaluru, with Virat Kohli scoring a match-winning 77 off 49 balls.Sehwag's comments sparked a flurry of reactions on social media, with many fans praising his wit and humor. The video has been widely shared and has become a talking point among cricket enthusiasts.

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has criticized England's 'Bazball' approach in Test cricket following their defeat to India in Dharamsala. India secured a 4-1 series victory after hammering England by an innings and 64 runs in the fifth and final Test.Sehwag took to social media to express his views on England's aggressive batting style, which has been dubbed 'Bazball' after new coach Brendon McCullum. "Bazball, Batti Gull. There needs to be a method to madness. England simply didn't have the game to match and looked clueless particularly after the second Test match," Sehwag wrote.He added, "The captain failing miserably only added to their woes and they simply looked like living in an illusion. For this method to succeed, there needs to be a method to madness, which England severely lacked."England's James Anderson became only the third bowler to reach 700 Test wickets during the match, but the visitors were never in contention. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took a five-wicket haul in his landmark 100th Test, helping to bowl out England for 195 inside three days.Ashwin expressed his delight with his performance, saying, "Win the Test and take wickets, what more can a bowler ask for?" Joe Root top-scored for England with 84, but Kuldeep Yadav took seven wickets in the match to be named man of the match.India's victory was marred by an injury to skipper Rohit Sharma, who did not take the field due to a "stiff back." Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah led the team in Sharma's absence and took two wickets.

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has launched a scathing attack on England's "Bazball" approach, which he believes led to their dismal performance in the recently concluded Test series against India. England began the series with a resounding victory in Hyderabad, but their fortunes took a nosedive thereafter, as they lost the next four Tests to concede the series 1-4.Sehwag, known for his forthright opinions, took to social media to express his dismay at England's tactics. "Bazball, Batti Gull," he wrote. "There needs to be a method to madness. England simply didn't have the game to match and looked clueless particularly after the second test match."The former opener pointed out that England's captain, Ben Stokes, failed to lead by example, which compounded their problems. "The captain failing miserably only added to their woes and they simply looked like living in an illusion," Sehwag added.Sehwag believes that England's "Bazball" approach, which emphasizes aggressive batting, is flawed. "For this method to succeed, there needs to be a method to madness, which England severely lacked," he wrote.Stokes, however, defended England's approach, arguing that it is necessary to take risks in order to score runs against India's formidable bowling attack. "When India get on top, especially with the ball, they get a lot of men around the bat and with the quality of their (spin) bowlers...you've got to find ways of getting rid of those close fielders," Stokes explained."And that comes with risk, and risks don't always pay off. You've just got to be positive enough to take that risk, accept that it may lead to your downfall. But when the intent is there and you have a clear reason as to why you are playing that shot, you can hold your hands up and accept it."Despite Stokes's defense, Sehwag remains unconvinced. He believes that England's approach is unsustainable and will ultimately lead to more failures. "England need to go back to the drawing board and reassess their strategy," he said. "They need to find a way to balance aggression with caution, and they need to be more consistent with their batting."