New promise in Kiwi cricket Aditya Ashok: Excited to play against his birth country with Rajanikanth-inspired tattoo!
Aditya Ashok is the new-kid-on-the block in New Zealand cricket. Before his debut in the forthcoming ODI series against India, his birth country, the 23-year-old Tamil Nadu cricketer is being hailed as the future of New Zealand spin-attack. Ashoke was born in Vellore and brought up in Auckland. He got early training at the Chennai Super Kings Academy. Undoubtedly, he seems excited ahead of his debut against India. “I am very excited to potentially represent my country and also represent the people who have helped me along my journey,” Adithya commented on Thursday after New Zealand’s first training session ahead of Sunday’s ODI series opener against India at the Baroda Cricket Association Stadium. Significantly, Ashok is a fan of South Indian film star Rajinikanth. He has a tattoo on his right arm. A famous Rajinikanth dialogue, ‘En vazhi thani vazhi’(My way is a unique way) from the superstar’s film Padayappa. Adithya said the phrase holds personal meaning from a conversation with his late grandfather. “We discussed values and morals at home while a Rajini film played in the background,” he recalled. “That’s how it started. People ask, but it’s personal. That conversation meant much to me. My grandfather passed soon after, so it’s a lasting memory. I’m very grateful for that moment.” As he prepares for his first taste of international cricket in India, Adithya carries with him not just ambition, but a journey shaped across cultures, continents, and deeply held personal values.
Eyeing the T-20 World Cup, Tilak set to be rested for two T-20Is against the Kiwis after surgery
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) does not want Tilak Varma to participate in the T20 series from the beginning against New Zealand after Varma had to undergo emergency surgery in Rajkot. Varma, who is already in the Indian squad for the forthcoming T-20 international series, was diagnosed with testicular torsion. According to a new development, Tilak may miss the first half of the T20I series, which means the first two T20 Internationals. Still, the BCCI and its medical team, before including him in the squad for the last three matches of the five-match series, will assess his recovery progress. Tilak underwent a minor procedure at a private hospital in Rajkot after experiencing pain in the groin region while representing Hyderabad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy group stage. The initial reports of testicular torsion had raised doubts around both his immediate international commitments and his participation in the T20 World Cup beginning on 7th February. However, the latest update suggests the situation is far less difficult than first feared, providing major relief to the Indian camp. With nearly a month to go before the World Cup, Tilak is now on track to be fully fit in time for the marquee tournament. Tilak has been one of India’s most dependable T20 batters over the past year and was earmarked as the team’s designated No. 3 for the home World Cup. Even at the domestic level, he has continued his purple patch, scoring his sixth List A century in Hyderabad’s Group B clash earlier this week and finishing his short Vijay Hazare campaign with 143 runs from two innings at an average of 71.50. With Tilak missing at least the first two matches, the door opens for Ishan Kishan to slot in at No.3. Suryakumar Yadav, who is in awful form, can be a perfect number three, while adding Rinku Singh would be easier now.
Left is sometimes right for switch-hitting right-handed Kiwi batsman!
New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips said his brave switch-hitting show in a recent Super Smash match was no gimmick but a tactical option he has developed for years to counter left-arm spin. In last week’s match against Central Districts, Otago right-hander Phillips switched stance while off-spinner Dean Foxcroft was midway through his run-up, and hit the bowler for a four. It was not a four only, but a full-blooded cover-drive from a left-hand batsman. The spectators got stunned in the final over of the Otago innings when Phillips took up a left-hander’s stance even before left-arm spinner Jayden Lennox had begun his run-up and hit the bowler for a six! “I do enjoy my left-handed batting training,” Phillips, who smashed an unbeaten 90 off 48 balls in the match, said before leaving for New Zealand’s white-ball tour of India on Tuesday. He explained the reasons behind his innovation. “Obviously, I do it for multiple reasons. One of them is just to keep both hands and both sides of the brain working, but also for the opportunity to take down left-arm spin.” England’s Kevin Pietersen pioneered switch-hitting, while Australian duo David Warner and Glenn Maxwell had it in their arsenal but used it mostly to explore gaps behind or square of the wicket. “I have always been able to bat left-handed. I have been doing it since a young age. I started experimenting with left-hand batting when I was about 10 years old. I was purely a left-handed batter that time. Later on, I decided to switch to the right hand, and now I train both,” Phillips added. Phillips said he even faced pacers in the nets with a switched stance to improve his left-handed batting.
Indomitable Greaves rescues West Indies, setting a new milestone!
Justin Greaves delivered a nine-and-a-half-hour batting master-class before inscribing his name in the Caribbean folklore after his maiden Test double hundred helped an unlikely draw for West Indies in the opening Test against New Zealand on Saturday. The 31-year-old’s unbeaten 202 guided West Indies to finish a mammoth total of 457 for the loss of six wickets, which has been the second-highest fourth-innings total in Test match history. West Indies were chasing an unbelievable victory target of 531 at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval. Greaves never choose to show fireworks. Rather, he was patient, executing the grit and determination against the New Zealand attack, depleted by mid-match injuries to pacers Nathan Smith and Matt Henry. Greaves was on the wicket for nine-and-a-half hours, playing 388 deliveries, which finally forced New Zealand to accept a draw. West Indies were able to earn their first point in the new World Test Championship cycle, thanks to Greaves’ magnificent innings. Greaves forged a 196-run stand with Shai Hope (140) and then raised 180 with Kemar Roach (58) for the unbroken seventh wicket for a pride-restoring draw that felt as good as a win. The elated batsman said after receiving the man-of-the-match award, “It was undoubtedly a special day for me, and a special day for the team.” West Indies did not push for an unlikely victory in the final session, and Greaves felt he and his team displayed enough resilience with their second-innings batting. “It’s a word that we’ve thrown around in the dressing room a lot. So for me to be there at the end was really important. Anything for the team at the end of the day,” he said.
