The Cricket.com Weekly - Edition 27

It is THAT time of the week, yet again!🔔

Over 26 weeks of this exercise, Saturdays have meant only one thing for all cricket fans and us here at Cricket.com. 

It is TIME for the weekly wrap🗞️ 

We are three weeks into the Indian Premier League, and the tournament is making the noises for all the right reasons as plenty of matches have gone down to the wire, ensuring people are glued to their television sets. 

So without further ado, let's jump straight into the topics and performances that created a buzz in the last seven days. 

Meet the new kids on the block 

After three long years of toiling hard in the domestic circuit and at the nets of Mumbai Indians, Arjun Tendulkar finally made his debut for the five-time champions against Kolkata Knight Riders. 

*drumrolls, please!🥁

And while he went wicketless in the first outing, he scalped the wicket of Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the second game and bowled a fantastic final over to power Mumbai over the line by 14 runs. 

Fun fact: He is the only Tendulkar with an IPL wicket👀

Indeed life has come full circle for the youngster and the Tendulkar household.

And while we are on the debutants, there is another youngster who created ripples in the tournament after his three-wicket haul stunned Delhi at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

Vyshak Vijaykumar, remember the name!

The 26-year-old single-handedly dismantled Delhi to power the Royal Challengers over the line for their second win in the competition. 

That too in front of his home crowd and for his home franchise. Guess this is what dreams are made of! 

Bengaluru turns Yellove

With there being speculations about this season being Dhoni’s last on the field leading Chennai Super Kings, the former Indian skipper's fans have thronged the stadiums despite the extravaganza returning to home and away format. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore are known to have a loyal fanbase but were at the receiving end in their den when Thala's army graced the Garden City for the southern derby.

Every RCB fan lived their nightmare as the Chinnaswamy fixture vs CSK turned into a virtual home game for Dhoni & Co. due to the Super Kings’ super fans taking over Bangalore! 

Delhi finally have a win👀

After three weeks and six games, Delhi Capitals finally managed to register a win this season. 

But it almost became six defeats in six as the Capitals’ batters nearly blew up a simple chase. 

And oh, more good news for the DC players as the police managed to recover their stolen equipment. 

What’s going on in international cricket?

What's up with Jasprit Bumrah and Shreyas Iyer?

Months of speculation surrounding the fitness of Jasprit Bumrah and Shreyas Iyer have come to an end as the BCCI have FINALLY released a statement confirming that Bumrah has already started rehab after undergoing surgery in New Zealand, while Iyer will go under the knife in the coming week. 

It will be a race against time for the duo to be fit in time for the ODI World Cup set to commence in India later this year.  

David Warner retains his place for Ashes

Surprise, surprise!!

Australia have announced their squad for the summit clash of the World Test Championship and the Ashes, with David Warner retaining his spot despite a string of lukewarm performances in the last 12 months. 

Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Harris and Josh Inglis are included in the 17-member squad, but there ain't a place for Sheffield Shield's leading run-getter Cameron Bancroft and second-highest wicket-taker Michael Neser. 

Here's Pramod Ananth dissecting the team for the marquee event. 

Hailstorms halt New Zealand's rampage

In case you're wondering what we are talking about, New Zealand and Pakistan are involved in a five-match T20I series, with Pakistan leading 2-1. 

Babar Azam smashed a scintillating century in the second game to power the home team to a formidable first-innings total. While New Zealand bounced back in the third game, hailstorms forced the fourth match to be abandoned. 

Sri Lanka thrash Ireland in the first Test

Ireland's return to Test cricket has been riddled with difficulties, and earlier this week they were thrashed by an innings and 280 runs by Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium. 

After opting to bat first, the home team were propelled to 591 for six courtesy centuries from Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal. This practically batted Ireland out of the clash. 

Prabath Jayasuriya then spun a web around with seven wickets in the first innings and followed it up with three wickets in the second to bowl the hosts to victory. Jayasuriya was adjudged the Player of the Match for match figures of 10/108.

Ballance retires from professional cricket

Gary Ballance, who recently moved back to his country of birth, Zimbabwe, to resume his international career, scored a century against the Windies on his comeback. 

However, the southpaw shocked the cricketing fraternity earlier this week by announcing his retirement from all forms of professional cricket with immediate effect. 

Ballance revealed that losing the ‘desire to dedicate myself to the rigours of professional sport’ was the reason for his retirement. 

Articles in Focus

For the longest time, cricket in India wasn’t viewed as one to feed a family, but the inaugural edition of IPL changed it all. Over the years, IPL has given budding cricketers a chance to dream. A dream that no longer requires cricketers to represent India to meet ends.

Here's Aakash analysing how IPL transformed the dreams of budding cricketers in India. 

Akeal Hosein has been West Indies’ go-to bowler in the two white-ball formats and has been among the standout performers for his team for the last couple of years.

And in case you didn't know, he is with the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the IPL. The left-arm spinner shared his experience of franchise cricket in a detailed chat with Pramod. 

Tilak Varma roared with another impactful performance in the IPL as the southpaw smashed a 17-ball 37 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on his home turf to set the stadium alight with his blitz. 

Tilak’s showing was so good that Rohit Sharma suggested the youngster is ready for some other teams, indicating an India call-up for the 20-year-old. Shubh Aggarwal traces his journey in the competition. 

And we have Shubh yet again analysing the trends of the past week with plenty of last-ball finishes and the home team faltering advantage at home. 

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