One of the most endearing things in cricket is to see players- especially bowlers- celebrating their hard-earned wickets. Sometimes it could be provocative, sometimes funny, or sometimes plain-down inspirational. In the past two years or so, Sheldon Cottrell's grand salute to a batsman is one such celebration.
Cottrell's reasoning for doing the same is the tribute to the armed forces, of which he was a part, in the past. And, the same reasoning is behind Ebadot Hossain's salute. The right-handed bowler did the same during the first test match against New Zealand when he got the scalps of Conway and Ross Taylor.
Ebadot is a permanent member of the Bangladesh Air Force and that's why he celebrates every wicket with a salute.
"I am a soldier of Bangladesh Air Force so I know how to do the salute. It was a long story, from volleyball to cricket. I am enjoying cricket, representing Bangladesh and Bangladesh Air Force."
Ebadot Hossain opens up about his salute celebration
Ebadot who finished with 7 wickets in the match and became the first Bangladesh pacer to pick up a five-wicket haul in a Test innings in over eight years credited coach Ottis Gibson for working with him.
"In the last two years, I am working with Ottis Gibson. Conditions are always flat at home. We are still learning how to bowl and reverse in away conditions. I am trying to hit the top of the stumps. I needed to be a little patient for success to come," he said.
New Zealand has appointed Rob Walter as the coach of all three formats of New Zealand men's cricket team in place of Gary Stead. Walter was the coach of South Africa's ODI and T20 teams from January 2023 to April this year. Prior to this, he coached for five years in New Zealand's Otago Province and Central Districts Association.
Under Rob Walter's coaching, South Africa made it to the semifinals of the ODI World Cup 2023 and the Champions Trophy this year. Not only this, he also played an important role in taking South Africa to the finals of the T20 World Cup last year.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to work with such a talented group of players and support staff through a period of time in which so many global events, as well as massive bilateral series, will be contested,” Walter said. “I just can’t wait to get started. It’s exciting, it’s challenging and the opportunity is enormous.”
The 49-year-old Rob Walter was high on New Zealand Cricket's list of preferred candidates from the moment it decided to pursue another all-formats coach, ruling out Stead who guided the Black Caps to the inaugural World Test Championship.
He'll take over in time for New Zealand's tour to Zimbabwe, which starts with a T20 tri-series against the hosts and South Africa before a two-test series against Zimbabwe.
Stead step down from his role in March
Stead has been New Zealand's head coach across all three formats since 2018. New Zealand Cricket announced earlier this week that it was looking for a new coach to replace him.
Stead announced in March that he was stepping down from his role in limited-overs formats but wanted to stay on as Test coach. New Zealand Cricket, however, said it preferred to have one coach for all three formats.
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.
IPL 2025: Here are the overseas players who might not come for the remainder of the tournament
Will your favourite overseas IPL star leave mid-season? Check out the list of overseas players who might not come for the remainder of the tournament in IPL 2025.
As IPL 2025 faced disruptions and was suspended on 9th May, 2025, most of the overseas players returned back to their respective home countries.
The tournament is set to resume from 17th May, 2025, and it raises a crucial question about how many overseas players can rejoin their franchises.
Given their international commitments and other issues, check out the overseas players who might not come for the remainder of the tournament in IPL 2025 for each team.
IPL 2025 Points Table
Firstly, see where each team stands before the tournament resumes.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the five-time IPL Champions have not been able to perform the way it was expected from them in this year's IPL, which is why CSK is at the bottom of the points table, and this shows CSK's struggles in IPL 2025.
CSK's struggles in IPL 2025 leads them to the bottom of the points table in IPL 2025
Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the five-time IPL Champions known for their consistency and tactical moves which usually leads them to success, find themselves in an unfamiliar position this season. CSK is at the bottom of the points table with just 2 wins out of their 9 matches, marking their worst IPL season till date.
The main reasons of CSK’s struggles in IPL 2025 are a combination of poor auction strategy, some important players getting injured, very weak & out of form batting line-up, horrible fielding performances, and being unable to find a proper & effective playing 11 combination despite playing half of their matches in IPL 2025.
From the Auction Table only, CSK’s management started making mistakes by failing to grab impactful players who could fill the gaps in their squad.
Instead of investing in young and in-form players, the management made some confusing choices by buying mediocre players with poor form like Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, and Vijay Shankar, especially with a few key players nearing the end of their careers like Ravichandran Ashwin.
Former CSK great, also known as “Mr. IPL”, Suresh Raina has publicly criticised CSK’s poor auction strategy by pointing out the missed opportunities to buy match-winning players like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Faf Du Plessis, etc., due to a lack of funds.
While other franchises focused on acquiring young and dynamic talent, CSK appeared to rely heavily on their tried-and-tested players like Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Sam Curran, etc., who are unable to perform in crucial situations for CSK in IPL 2025.
CSK’s management overlooked many promising domestic and overseas players who have been performing nicely in other T20 leagues, which resulted in a poor out-of-form bunch of players.
Some auction picks like Noor Ahmad and Khaleel Ahmed were great buys for CSK in IPL 2025, as these 2 players are performing really well and clinching wickets on a regular basis.
Batting Collapses in almost every match has been one of the reasons of CSK's struggles in IPL 2025
CSK’s batting has been one of the weakest in this season. Their top-order batsmen like Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, and Ruturaj Gaikwad have failed to perform consistently, and batted with a very low strike-rate in power-play which leads the team one step backwards from the start of the game.
The middle-order batsmen like Deepak Hooda, Shivam Dubey, and Vijay Shankar have failed to capitalize in the middle overs, and batted with a slow strike rate, and poor shot selection, which made most of their chases or first innings totals look below par.
Even their reliable lower order batters or finishers like Ravindra Jadeja and Mahendra Singh Dhoni haven't been able to rescue them as they are also out of form and being overburdened with responsibility. So, the lack of a proper finisher is glaring.
Some young and new batters of CSK like Shaik Rasheed, Ayush Mhatre, and Dewald Brewis who got a chance to play from the previous 2-3 matches have performed nicely and played exceptionally well and showed potential that they can be the future stars of CSK.
After the recent loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad, MS Dhoni highlighted the problems because of which CSK is continuously losing matches this season.
His words were, “In a tournament like this, if there are one or two areas to plug in the holes, then it's good, but when a majority of the players are not doing well, then you need to make changes. You can’t just keep going. We are just not putting enough runs on the board”, while addressing the post-match presentation.
(3) Poor Fielding and Catch Drops at Crucial Moment
CSK have dropped the most catches so far in IPL 2025
CSK’s fielding, which was a strength for them earlier, has been horrible this year. CSK has dropped 13-14 catches in IPL 2025 till now which is most by any team this season and after these catch drops of important players at crucial moments, all those players scored a good number of runs and lead their respective teams to a very good total or chased the runs made by CSK.
In a highly competitive league like the IPL, every run saved with a good fielding effort makes a difference and creates pressure on the opposition, but CSK has failed to do this in this IPL season, which is one of the reasons for CSK’s struggles in IPL 2025.
MS Dhoni’s wicket-keeping skills is the only thing which deserves appreciation when CSK is fielding. At the age of 43, Dhoni’s wicket-keeping is still lethal with lightning-fast stumping and very smooth ball receiving technique.
CSK’s bowling has also been very outstanding this season. Bowlers of CSK, like Khaleel Ahmed and Noor Ahmad, have taken crucial wickets continuously. They have been able to create chances with their effective bowling, but the fielders were not able to grab those chances and take advantage of them.
Ruturaj Gaikwad has been ruled out of IPL 2025 because of injury and Devon Conway have returned to New Zealand
Ruturaj Gaikwad, the Captain of CSK, got injured and was ruled out of this IPL, which made the CSK batting line-up very weak and inexperienced. Devon Conway has to return to New Zealand because his father passed away.
After Gaikwad’s exclusion from the playing 11 because of an unfortunate injury, MS Dhoni has again become the Captain of CSK and Ayush Mhatre has been signed by the CSK management as a replacement for Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Poor Batting Performance and Horrible Display of Fielding shows CSK's struggles in IPL 2025
After losing 7 out of 9 matches, and with 5 games left, only CSK’s qualifying chances for IPL 2025 Play-offs are practically gone. Even MS Dhoni seems to be looking ahead to next season, as after their recent loss to Mumbai Indians, Dhoni highlighted the importance of getting a secured playing XI for the next year, while addressing the post-match presentation.
As the season progresses, one thing is clear: CSK's struggles in IPL 2025 serve as a reminder that even the most successful teams need to evolve and adapt to the current playing style to stay competitive.
If CSK wants to bounce back next season, they need figure out what went wrong in 2025 and correct those things as soon as possible. The auction errors, poor on-field execution, poor display of batting & fielding, and over-reliance on aging players have all contributed to a season they’ll want to forget.
The Chennai Super Kings have built a legacy over the years. But this year, that legacy has taken a hit and only a superb comeback in the next season of IPL can earn them their respect again which CSK deserves, and as we all know that CSK is also known as the Comeback Super Kings so every CSK fan will pray for their team’s strong comeback in the next season of IPL.
Devon Conway struck form in his second appearance of the 2025 edition of the IPL for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) albeit in a losing cause as the Men in Yellow are yet to win a game since their point-earning opener against the Mumbai Indians.
Conway had a power failure during the twilight of his innings as he was striking at 140 when the required rate was over 15-16 and the southpaw had to be retired out. However, his 69 off 49 helped him reach the milestone of 1,000 IPL runs and he became the third fastest to get to the landmark in just 24 innings, just after Shaun Marsh and Lendl Simmons.
Let's take a look at some of the quickest players to have scaled the 1000 IPL runs in terms of number of innings played.
Fastest to Reach 1000 IPL Runs
7. Chris Gayle | 27 Innings
Despite his heroics in the IPL, Chris Gayle had a forgettable start to the competition with two-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders. After scoring just 400 runs in the first two seasons, Gayle’s resurgence started when RCB bought him in 2011. He went on to score more than 2000 runs in the next three seasons.
Hence, while Gayle is the seventh-fastest batsman to score 1000 IPL runs, he is the fastest to reach 3000 and 4000 runs. He boasts of scoring six centuries and 31 half-centuries in the tournament.
6. Jonny Bairstow | 26 Innings
Jonny Bairstow is the sixth-fastest player to smash 1,000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He achieved the feat in the game against Delhi Capitals in 2021 season when he played a blistering knock of 38 runs off just 18 balls. The English batsman took 26 innings to achieve the milestone.
In 50 IPL matches played so far for SRH and Punjab Kings, Bairstow has 1589 runs to his name. He has been a prolific opener in the competition.
5. Matthew Hayden | 25 Innings
Legendary Australian batter Matthew Hayden played just 32 IPL games, all for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), spanning the first three seasons of the tournament. He notched up the 1,000th run of his IPL career in his final year while making his 25th appearance for the team.
While Hayden scored just 189 runs from the four innings he played in the inaugural edition, the legendary opening batter delivered an ‘Orange Cap’ winning performance the following year with 572 runs off 12 innings. Moreover, Matthew Hayden also clattered 346 runs in 16 innings of IPL 2010 to play a crucial role in CSK’s title-winning run.
Hayden finished his IPL career with 1107 runs for the Men in Yellow.
4. Sai Sudharsan | 25 Innings
Sai Sudharsan also completed 1000 runs in his 25th IPL innings for the Gujarat Titans. Having made his IPL debut back during the 2022 edition of the tournament for the franchise, the left-handed batter has so far notched up 1,225 runs off 29 matches at a splendid batting average of 47.12.
Moreover, Sudharsan has maintained a staggering strike rate of 140.80, and has recorded eight half-centuries and one century in the process.
3. Devon Conway | 24 Innings
New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Devon Conway took just 24 innings to complete 1000 IPL runs. The blistering top-order batter made his tournament debut back in 2022 for CSK, and has so far earned 25 caps for them up until the first couple of weeks of the IPL 2025 season in India.
By the time of recording 1,000 runs for the franchise, Conway averaged a healthy 47.90, all while boasting an astonishing strike rate of 140.30. With 1,006 runs from 24 innings, Conway has also glittered his IPL career with ten stunning half-centuries.
Lendl Simmons made his IPL debut in 2014 for Mumbai Indians. it took him just 23 innings to complete 1,000 runs, doing so during the 2017 edition of the tournament.
A two-time T20 World Cup winner for the West Indies, attacking wicketkeeper-batter accrued 1,079 runs from 29 matches in IPL at a healthy average of 39.96.
Notably, Simmons played all his IPL matches for the Mumbai Indians franchise between the years 2014 and 2017, and lifted the title on two separate occasions under the leadership of Rohit Sharma. During Mumbai Indians’ emphatic 2015 title win, Simmons aggregated 540 runs from 13 innings at an average of 45.
1. Shaun Marsh | 21 Innings
Shaun Marsh holds the record for scoring the fastest 1000 IPL runs. Marsh racked up over 500 runs for the Punjab Kings franchise in 2011 to complete 1,000 runs in his IPL career, doing so in just his 21st innings to remain the fastest cricketer in tournament history to scale the landmark figure.
The left-handed opening batter played all his IPL matches for the Punjab Kings, from 2008 up until his final appearance in 2017 and scored 2477 runs in 71 Matches.
Marsh will forever be remembered as IPL’s first-ever ‘Orange Cap’ winner, considering the former Australian opener won the prestigious honor by hauling 616 runs from 11 innings during the inaugural 2008 edition.
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