Sports

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak) Virat Kohli has returned to the Indian Premier League with immediate impact, delivering a match-winning performance for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their season opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The veteran batter appears focused on helping RCB defend the title they secured for the first time last season.Interestingly, Kohli…

Chennai Super Kings’ captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, right, and Sanju Samson (PTI Photo/R Senthilkumar) (PTI04_03_2026_000298A) Former England captain Michael Vaughan and ex-New Zealand pacer Simon Doull have raised questions over the dynamics inside Chennai Super Kings, suggesting that skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad could feel “threatened” by the presence of Sanju Samson. Speaking on a Cricbuzz show, the…

Punjab Kings’ skipper Shreyas Iyer (ANI Photo) Punjab Kings may be riding high on the field, but skipper Shreyas Iyer has landed in trouble off it after being fined ₹24 lakh for maintaining a slow over-rate during their win over Chennai Super Kings.The penalty comes as Punjab’s second over-rate offence of the season, which means…

Rohit Sharma (Image credit: BCCI/IPL) NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma isn’t missing any practice sessions with the Mumbai Indians team. In the nets on Friday afternoon at the Arun Jaitley stadium, he put his head down and mostly worked on perfecting his defensive technique. He refrained from playing the booming hits down the ground.Rohit is 26…

Chennai Super Kings’ captain Ruturaj Gaikwad (PTI Photo/R Senthilkumar) Chennai Super Kings are in unfamiliar territory. For a franchise built on consistency and calm starts, losing the first two matches of an IPL season has been a rare occurrence. In fact, it has happened only twice in their history — first in 2022 under Ravindra…

R Praggnanandhaa (Photo by Yoav Nis) NEW DELHI: You read that right. R Praggnanandhaa, India’s lone representative in the Open section, arguably squandered the best opportunity to score his second win at the Candidates Tournament on Friday at the Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort. Rather, the 2741-rated Grandmaster chose to settle for a lifeless…

Hardik Pandya of India (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images) New Delhi: Hardik Pandya didn’t turn up for either of the two afternoon practice sessions of Mumbai Indians ahead of their Saturday match against Delhi Capitals. Understandably, the Mumbai Indians captain doesn’t want to push his injury-prone body during the gruelling two-month IPL schedule. Hardik, however,…

LUCKNOW: Digvesh Rathi grabbed everyone’s attention in the previous edition of IPL 2025 with his impeccable bowling and extravagant celebrations that led to censures and fines. There is no doubt that he will be under the scanner in IPl 2026 too, both for his skills and behaviour, but the mystery spinner remains committed to helping…

Ruturaj Gaikwad blamed his spinners for Chennai Super Kings’ five-wicket loss to Punjab Kings in their IPL match on Friday, saying an off day from them hurt the team despite a strong total on the board.Chennai Super Kings posted 209 for 5, with Ayush Mhatre scoring 73 off 43 balls. But Punjab Kings chased down…

Shreyas Iyer (BCCI Photo) NEW DELHI: Punjab Kings continued their strong start in IPL 2026 with a five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings, thanks to a captain’s knock from Shreyas Iyer and a solid team effort. Chasing a big target of 210, PBKS stayed calm under pressure and got over the line with eight balls…