England defeated New Zealand by 5 wickets in the second Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on June 14. Jonny Bairstow's fine knock-off 136 off just 92 balls helped the hosts to grab a lead of 2-0. Even though the home team chased down the target of 299 without breaking a sweat, they have lost out on two precious points from their ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 tally.
The reason for this is that England was ruled to be two overs short of the target. Meanwhile, the sanction was imposed by cricketer-turned-match referee Richie Richardson who also is a part of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees. Thus, the Ben Stokes-led side, whose points tally rose to 42 after this famous win, now has only 40 points.
More importantly, it affected their points percentage which dropped down from 25 to 23.80. Besides all this, the players were also fined 40% of their match fee for the slow over-rate offense.
"England players were also fined 40% of their match fee for the slow over-rate": ICC's official statement
"In addition, as per Article 16.11.2 of the ICC World Test Championship playing conditions, a side is penalised one point for each over short. As a result, England have been penalised two World Test Championship points from their total tally."
ICC's official statement read
"England players were also fined 40% of their match fee for the slow over-rate. In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel. Players are fined 20 percent of their match fee for every over their team fails to bowl in the allotted time." the statement added.
Meanwhile, with this victory, England has now taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match test series. Thus, the Three Lions now have registered their first-ever Test series win after January 2021. In that year, they had blanked Sri Lanka 2-0 in their own backyard. They would now be hoping to whitewash the Kiwis by winning the third and final Test match at Headingley starting on June 23.
ENG vs IND: England announce squad for the first Test against India
England have named a 14-member squad for the first Test of ENG vs IND starting 20 June at Headingley, Leeds, with experienced pacer Chris Woakes making a return to red-ball cricket.
The England and Wales Cricket Board on Thursday announced a 14-member squad for the first Test of the five-match series against India. The ENG vs IND five-match Test series is starting from June 20. The first match will be played at Headingley on June 20, 2025.
Fast bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton has returned. He has been included in the team in place of injured Gus Atkinson. Jamie has returned after the match against New Zealand in June 2022.
Atkinson was unavailable for selection due to a right hamstring injury suffered during the Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge.
Carse, Woakes included in the squad
Fast bowlers Brydon Carse, Jacob Bethell and Chris Woakes have also been named in the squad, who last played during the New Zealand Test tour in December. The India A side are already in the United Kingdom, playing warm-up games against England Lions.
Woakes, known for his effectiveness in home conditions, especially at Lord’s, last featured prominently in 2018 against India, where he claimed four wickets and smashed an unbeaten 137.
Young spinner Shoaib Bashir, who starred with nine wickets against Zimbabwe, retains his spot as the lone specialist spinner. IPL winner Jacob Bethell and seamer Sam Cook, both of whom impressed recently, have also earned call-ups.
Ben Stokes to lead the team
England will field a significantly altered team compared to the last time they faced India in early 2024. James Anderson has since retired, while Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes and Ollie Robinson are the other notable absentees from the squad.
Ben Stokes, who returned from a hamstring injury in that Zimbabwe Test, will lead England against India in a five-match series that marks the start of both teams’ campaigns in the new ICC World Test Championship cycle.
23-27 July 2025 - Fourth Test, Emirates Old Trafford
31 July-4 August 2025 - Fifth Test, Kia Oval
ENG vs IND | England full squad
Ben Stokes (c), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
The Most Valuable Player in IPL is the cricketer who earns the most points on the MVP Chart of a particular season. Before the 2013 season, the best player of an IPL season received the 'IPL Man of the Series' title. However, the organizers changed it to the IPL Most Valuable Player in 2013.
How do players get the IPL Most Valuable Player award?
There is a special rating system, under which the cricketers earn points for fours, sixes, wickets, catches, dot balls, and stumpings. For every four, the player gets 2.5 points, while a maximum earns him 3.5 points.
A catch or a stumping is equal to 2.5 points, and a wicket gets the player 3.5 points. The bowler earns one point for every dot ball bowled. The leader of this standing takes the IPL Most Valuable Player trophy home.
Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson won the Most Valuable Player award in its inaugural edition in 2013. Watson had undone the damage to his IPL prospects that year with all-round performance for the Rajasthan Royals. With 22 sixes, 59 boundaries, 6 catches, and 13 wickets, Watson edged past the big Chris Gayle by 37 points to clinch the Most Valuable Player once again.
A packed Chennai crowd also witnessed Shane Watson's first IPL 100. Incidentally, Watson's 61-ball 101 was also the first century of the 2013 edition of the IPL
After failing to find a spot on the Australian side in 2014, Glenn Maxwell staged a fantastic show in the 7th edition of the IPL. The all-rounder Maxwell scored as many as 552 runs in the tournament, during which he also smashed 36 sixes and 48 fours, all at a strike rate of 187.75.
The Aussie fell agonizingly short of a maiden IPL century – he blasted CSK's bowlers to get to a 38-ball 95. Although Kings XI Punjab lost in a thrilling final against the Knight Riders, Glenn Maxwell would have cherished the 2014 season of the IPL for his stellar run.
Kolkata's Caribbean Knight Andre Russell was power personified as far as the 2015 IPL was concerned. The broad-shouldered all-rounder set the IPL on fire with stellar performances lower down the order. Russell was the bright spot of KKR's deep batting order, as the Caribbean genius scored 326 runs through the course of the season.
Russell could brag about his 21-ball 51 against Kings XI Punjab which helped KKR steeple a target of 183. A strike rate of 192.29 stood out in Andre Russell's scintillating season. Don't forget his 14 wickets and 6 catches.
The 9th edition of the IPL pulled every available spotlight on just one man, Virat Kohli. Former Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper was in mint form, as he seemed to have no difficulty in racking up immense runs. Virat Kohli came tantalizingly close to 1,000 runs in a single IPL season, finishing with 973.
En route to yet another blotched IPL final, Kohli hammered 4 centuries – which was the most by a batsman in a single IPL season – and comfortably snapped the Orange Cap. Despite a disappointing end to the season, Virat Kohli had taken the IPL by storm by his insatiable hunger for T20 runs.
The tag of 'Most Valuable Player' was attached to Ben Stokes long before he took the field in the 2017 edition of the IPL. Stokes fetched Rs. 14.5 crore and was set to ply his skills for the Rising Pune Supergiant. He didn't disappoint his selectors who invested big money in him. Stokes proved his worth and added the title of Most Valuable Player alongside his already existing tag of Most Expensive Overseas Player.
Although he was dearly missed in the final, Stokes had amassed 316 runs at 31.60 before he left on national duty. The Big Ben lit up the IPL with a stellar century against the Gujarat Lions and was also instrumental in the Pune's impenetrable death-bowling. Stokes bagged a total of 12 wickets while maintaining a miserly economy rate of 7.18.
Sunil Narine became the second cricketer after Shane Watson to become the most valuable player of IPL twice. After IPL 2012 he won the prestigious award once again in 2018. By this time he not only proved himself as an excellent bowler but also as a great hard-hitting opener.
He completely justified the roles given to him by giving an extreme start to KKR in the powerplay in most of the matches and also helped the team to reach the playoffs. In 16 matches he scored 357 runs with a strike rate of 189.89 and took 17 wickets with an economy rate of 7.65. One of his most magnificent knocks from IPL 2018 is his half-century in only 17 balls against RCB.
Once again a player from KKR became the most valuable player of IPL 2019 following Sunil Narine in 2018. Andre Russell also became the third cricketer to be in the MVP award twice in IPL history after Shane Watson and Sunil Narine. By this time, he proved himself as a batter who could win matches in dire situations.
In 2019 IPL Russell completely thrashed boundaries all around and literally played with the opponent bowlers. He aggregated 510 runs in only 14 matches with an out-of-the-ordinary strike rate of 204.81. He not only restricted himself with batting but also picked up 11 wickets for KKR while bowling in the death overs mostly.
Rajasthan Royals' all-rounder Jofra Archer claimed the IPL Most Valuable Player award in 2020. The English player topped the MVP standings with 305 points to his name.
Archer picked up 20 wickets, bowled 175 dot deliveries, smashed five fours and ten sixes as well as took five catches to beat the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rashid Khan to become the Most Valuable Player in IPL 2020. No other player could score 300 MVP points last year.
The Most Valuable Player of IPL 2021 is Harshal Patel from Royal Challengers Bangalore. With 264.5 points, the cricketer had an amazing season this year. Starting from taking crucial wickets to winning the Purple Cap, Game-changer of the season, picking the highest number of wickets in IPL, he did it all. He had a dreamy season after making a comeback to RCB from DC. Also, he took a 4 wicket haul and a 5 wicket haul this season as well.
Suryakumar Yadav | 2025
Mumbai Indians batter Suryakumar Yadav has been named the Most Valuable Player for IPL 2025. The MI middle-order star finished the season with 717 runs to his name from 16 matches, registering his best season so far averaging, 65.18. He struck five half-centuries in the course of the tournament, emerging as MI’s highest run-scorer in IPL 2025. SKY is the second MI batter to win the Most Valuable Player of the season award after Sachin Tendulkar in 2010.
ENG-A vs IND-A: Karun Nair makes solid return to India set up; scores unbeaten 186 on Day 1
Karun Nair headlined the day with a solid, unbeaten 186 with the bat for India A against England Lions, in the first unofficial test match. Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel also scored fifties.
India A started their England tour on a great note with a solid Day 1 display against the England Lions in Canterbury. Karun Nair headlined the day with a solid, unbeaten 186 with the bat for India A.
England Lions captain James Rew won the toss and decided to bowl first on a greenish pitch at the St. Lawrence Ground.
When it looked like that, Rew took the right decision of bowling first, Sarfaraz Khan and Karun Nair put up a 181-run partnership for the third wicket to give India A the advantage after Day 1’s play.
Karun Nair, who last played a test match in 2017, continued his great form and completed his fifty in 85 balls.
Soon, Sarfraz Khan, who was dropped from the test squad, completed his fifty in 84 balls as well. When both batters were looking to get to the hundred mark first, Sarfraz was caught down the leg side on 92 off 119 balls and missed his ton.
Sarfaraz Khan gets dismissed 8 short of a well-deserved hundred.
Sarfaraz was looking good but was eventually caught down the leg side on 92.
Nair, who was dropped on 89 off Ajeet Singh Dale, completed his 24th first-class ton off 155 balls.
Post that, incoming batter Dhruv Jurel and Nair started smashing the bowlers and changed their gears. Nair reached the landmark of 150 in 205 balls while Jurel reached his fifty in just 68 balls.
At the end of Day 1 of the 4-day unofficial test match, Jurel remained unbeaten on 82 off 104 balls while Nair remained unbeaten on 186 from 246 balls, with India A finishing with 409/3.
Cricket has always been a bridge across cultures, a phenomenon that connects players with fans from all around the world. Situations often force people to migrate from one country to the other. There have been instances when cricketers were born in different nations but ultimately played for a different country.
Let's take a look at the cricket facts of cricketers who didn't play for their country.
Cricket Facts | Cricketers who didn't play for their country
5. Glenn Phillips (South Africa-born)
New Zealand cricket all-rounder Glenn Philips moved from East London, South Africa to New Zealand at the age of five. He pursued his education in New Zealand, where he began his cricket journey. Having made his domestic debut with Auckland, he signed with Otago to play alongside his brother, Dale Phillips, in 2022. Interestingly, he made his international debut against South Africa, the country where he was born.
4. Ish Sodhi (India-born)
Inderbir Singh 'Ish' Sodhi was born in Ludhiana, India, on October 31, 1992, and spent his early years in New Zealand. He made his New Zealand debut as a leg-spinner in 2013, and since then, he has been a reliable performer in limited-overs forms, contributing significantly to the country's T20 World Cup campaigns.
3. Devon Conway (South Africa-born)
After playing for Gauteng and the Highveld Lions, Devon Conway moved to New Zealand in 2017 and made an immediate impact. He was the leading run-scorer in both the 2018-19 Plunket Shield (659) and 2018-19 Super Smash (363). Conway became eligible to play for New Zealand in August 2020 and has since become a key player for them across all formats. He averages 36.72 after 27 Tests and has also made 36 ODI and 50 T20I appearances.
2. Marnus Labuschagne (South Africa-born)
Marnus Labuschagne was born in Klerksdorp, in South Africa. His family moved to Australia when he was 10. Labuschagne made his Australia debut in Tests in 2018, after Steve Smith suffered an injury during the Ashes tour. Since then the prolific batter has emulated the batting prowess of his best friend and has not looked back.
Speaking of his impressive international cricket career for Australia, Marnus Labuschagne has played 57 Tests, scoring 4396 runs with 11 centuries, and played 63 ODIs, scoring 1869 runs with two centuries. He has also played one T20I match.
Ben Stokes was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in June 1991. His family moved to Cumbria when Stokes was 12 years old after his father was appointed head coach at Workington Town Rugby League Club.
Stokes has played for England in all three formats. Stokes is regarded as one of England's greatest all-rounders in the history of the sport. In domestic cricket, he represents Durham and has played in multiple Twenty20 leagues around the world. He was part of the England team that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup.
The ICC World Test Championship 2023-2025 saw some stellar batting performances. Some players have consistently showed how good they are with the bat, and secured their top spot.
As the WTC 2023-25 is approaching its end, it is now time to look at those huge numbers by some sensational test batters.
Check out these names with most runs in WTC 2023-25.
1. Joe Root (1968 runs) | England
Joe Root in action during the World Test Championship 2023-2025. Image | Mint
Joe Root, who is in the top 5 for most runs in test career among some legendary test batters, holds the 1st rank for most runs in WTC 2023-25. He is a central figure for England in tests.
Root's contribution in the WTC 2023-25 cycle has been immense. He scored 1968 runs in 22 matches, with his highest score being 262 against Pakistan, which is the second-highest individual score by an English batter in WTC 2023-25 cycle.
He scored 7 centuries in this cycle, which is unmatched so far.
Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrating his double century against England in WTC 2023-25. Image | Instagram
Yashasvi Jaiswal made his debut in test cricket during the WTC 2023-25 cycle and his journey was nothing short of sensational. He emerged as the highest run-scorer for India and holds the 2nd rank for most runs in WTC 2023-25.
He scored a total of 1798 runs in 19 matches, with 2 back-to-back double centuries against England, which showcased his ability to dominate in this format.
Ben Duckett celebrating his century against India in WTC 2023-25. Image | Instagram
The opening batter for England, Ben Duckett, was phenomenal in the WTC 2023-25 cycle. He consistently provided decent starts to his team with the kind of explosive batting he is known for.
Ben scored 1470 runs in 22 matches and holds the 3rd rank for most runs in WTC 2023-25. He scored 2 centuries during his campaign and proved to be one of the key batters for England.
The England batters have purely dominated the list for most runs in WTC 2023-25, with their 3 batters appearing in top 5.Harry Brook is the third batter from England who is in the top 5 of this list, having 1400+ runs.
Australian batters like Steve Smith and Travis Head also performed brilliantly in this championship, but only Usman Khawaja could make it to the top 5 by having a 1400+ runs in total.
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