Sarfaraz Khan, the youngster from Mumbai is sitting behind the all-time legend of the game Sir Don Bradman in terms of average in first-class cricket. The 24-year-old Mumbaikar is in fine form since his first-class debut for Mumbai.
In first-class cricket, Sir Don Bradman has recorded an impressive average of 95.14 while the young boy from Mumbai has recorded 82.83 in those 36 innings he has batted. Sarfaraz Khan who plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket has registered 2485 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 82.83 in 24 matches. The right-handed batsman from Mumbai is in fine form since his debut in the format and has hammered 7 centuries so far.
Late legend sir Don Bradman has smashed a huge 28067 runs at an average of 95.14. Meanwhile, he has recorded 117 centuries and 69 fifties in 338 innings in his first-class cricket career.
The third player on this list is another legend from India, Vijay Merchant, who has amassed 13470 runs in 234 innings at an average of 71.64 in his first-class career. Moreover, Merchant has registered 45 centuries and 52 half-centuries in his first-class career.
The fourth and fifth player on this top 5 list is another two first-class legends, George Headley and Bahir Shah. Both of them maintained an average of around 69 in their respective first-class cricket careers. Let's take a better look at the records and stats of all the five players that we have already talked about.
India A's squad for the tour of England: Easwaran named captain, Karun Nair makes a return
Abhimanyu Easwaran was named the captain of the India A team for the tour of England as the BCCI announced the India A squad for the upcoming tour starting from 30th May 2025.
Abhimanyu Easwaran was named the captain of the India A team for the tour of England as the BCCI announced the India A squad for the upcoming tour starting from 30th May 2025.
India A will play two first-class matches against the England Lions at Canterbury and Northampton. Then they will play a practice match against the senior Indian team to prepare them for the big series against England.
Karun Nair was rewarded for his excellent domestic form as he made a return to the India A side. His performance for the A side might decide whether he will be given a chance for the senior team or not.
Abishek Porel, who was named in the last India A's tour to Australia, has been replaced by Ishan Kishan in the side.
Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, who will be busy in the Indian Premier League for the Gujarat Titans, will join the squad from the second match.
After the Champions Trophy 2025, India's target in ODI cricket will be the ODI World Cup 2027. In such a situation, know what is Team India's ODI schedule till the World Cup 2027. The Men in Blue have to play a total of 9 series in the next ICC ODI tournament, which includes 27 matches.
Apart from this, some more ODI matches can be scheduled near the tournament. So, know what is the ODI schedule of Indian Cricket Team till 2027 and when India will face which team.
The ODI World Cup2027 will be held around October to December. Before this, the Indian team is going to play a lot of matches. India have to play 3-match ODI series against 8 teams. They will play series twice against one country.
India will play New Zealand twice
India will play Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka once each in the upcoming ODI series, while it will play New Zealand twice. Out of the nine series, India will play six series at home, while the rest will be held outside the country.
It will start with the tour of Bangladesh in August, which will be played this year. In October-November 2025, India has to play a three-match ODI series on its tour of Australia. South Africa's team will tour India in November-December.
India will host Sri Lankan team in December 2026
In January 2026, the New Zealand team will play an ODI series in India. After this, India has to play a three-match series against Afghanistan in June. In July 2026, Team India will have to play the same number of ODI series on its tour of England.
The West Indies team is scheduled to tour India in September-October. There will be an ODI series against New Zealand at home in October-November. India will host the Sri Lankan team for an ODI series in December 2026.
Foreign players asked to return to their country as IPL 2025 postponed for a week due to India-Pakistan tension
If the IPL 2025 resumes at the end of May, most of the foreign players will be able to return. The teams believe so. If these matches are played after May 25, it will be difficult for the players to return.
Due to the increasing conflict between India and Pakistan, BCCI has postponed the IPL 2025 for a week. BCCI gave this information on Friday. The board said that it has taken this decision keeping in mind the concerns of the players and the sentiments of the fans. The new schedule of IPL will be released depending on the situation.
At the same time, according to media reports, all foreign players have been asked to return to their country. Meanwhile, Cricket Australia and South Africa Cricket Board have expressed concern over their players. There are still 12 league matches and 4 playoff matches left in IPL 2025. The final of the tournament was to be held on 25 May.
It is believed that India's tour of Bangladesh in August will be cancelled. The Asia Cup to be held in September will also be postponed. The remaining matches of IPL can be held in India in their place.
It is difficult for BCCI to bring back foreign players
The biggest challenge for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in resuming the IPL in May is to bring back foreign players. As soon as the IPL was announced to be postponed for a week, most of the foreign players returned to their respective countries. The remaining players will leave India by Saturday.
It will be interesting to see how BCCI brings back the foreign players and restarts the tournament. Because without them, it will be difficult to organize matches.
Players will start playing for the country
If the IPL resumes at the end of May, most of the foreign players will be able to return. The teams believe so. If these matches are played after May 25, it will be difficult for the players to return. The biggest reason for this is that many players will be playing for their national team then.
The final of the World Test Championship (WTC) is also scheduled to be held between the Australia and the South Africa at Lord's from June 11.
Starting the tournament is not easy
BCCI has kept all three grounds ready. Despite this, officials believe that it will not be easy to restart this competition now. All the teams were informed about this on Friday without any formal announcement. People from many teams are saying that all the remaining matches can be held at the end of the year.
Punjab-Delhi match had to be canceled midway
On the night of 8 May at around 8.30 pm, Pakistan attacked the borders of Jammu, Punjab and Rajasthan of India with missiles and drones. During this time, a match was being played between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh. It had to be stopped midway.
Gujarat on top, 3 teams out of the playoffs race
By the time IPL 2025 was halted midway, 57 matches of the league stage had been completed. The 58th match was halted midway. After 57 matches, Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bangalore had the highest points in the points table with 16-16 points.
GT remained on top due to better run rate. Punjab was third, Mumbai fourth and Delhi fifth. Whereas Chennai, Rajasthan and Hyderabad teams were out of the playoff race.
When the tournament was stopped, 4 teams had 2-2 matches left. Whereas 6 teams including Gujarat and Bangalore had not played 3-3 matches. A match was to be played between Lucknow and Bangalore in Lucknow on Friday, but the tournament was stopped before that.
The seventeenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to begin on Friday, March 22 with a huge clash between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chennai. IPL has seen several world-class players over the years. The best players in the world, like Kohli, Gayle, AB de Villiers, and Warner, have scored plenty of runs in the league. So it's time we have a look at the players with the most runs in IPL history.
Virat Kohli has scored the most runs in IPL history Image - X
Virat Kohli holds the record for scoring the most runs in IPL. He is in the top of this list with 7263 runs in 237 matches, including 7 centuries and 50 fifties. Virat has scored those runs at an average of 37.24 and a strike rate of 130.02. His best season came in 2016 when he made an incredible 973 runs in a single season, including 4 hundreds which is still the highest individual runs in a single season.
Shikhar Dhawan is second in the list interms of scoring the most runs in IPL history Image - BCCI
Shikhar Dhawan is second on the list in terms of scoring the most runs in IPL. He has been consistent in the IPL, crossing the 400-run mark each season from 2016 to 2022. Dhawan has scored 6617 runs in 217 games at an average of 35.38, including 2 centuries and 50 half-centuries. His best season came in the 2020 season when he scored 618 runs with 2 centuries and 4 half-centuries.
David Warner is third in the list interms of scoring the most runs in IPL history Image - Getty
The former captain of Hyderabad, David Warner, is the top run-getter among the foreign players and comes third overall. He has made 6397 runs in 176 matches at an average of 41.53 and a strike rate of 139.91. He has scored 4 centuries and 61 half-centuries in the Indian cash-rich league. His best season came in 2016 when he made 848 runs with 9 fifties.
Rohit Sharma is fourth in the list interms of scoring the most runs in IPL history Image - BCCI
The Hitman, Rohit Sharma is one of the most dangerous batsmen in the IPL. He has led Mumbai Indians to five titles so far. Rohit began his IPL career with Deccan in 2008 before joining Mumbai in 2011. In 243 matches, Rohit Sharma has scored 6211 runs at an average of 29.57, with 1 hundred and 42 half-centuries. The Hitman is the 2nd highest six-hitter in IPL with 256 sixes.
Suresh Raina is fifth in the list interms of scoring the most runs in IPL history Image - X
Mr. IPL, Suresh Raina has been a key member for Chennai in the league. He has been always consistent for CSK and led the team to 4 titles and 5 runner-up titles. In 205 matches, Raina has scored 5528 runs at a fantastic strike rate of 136.76, with 1 hundred and 39 fifties. Raina retired from international cricket in 2020 and from IPL in 2022.
BCCI Central Contract 2025: Talking points from BCCI's contract announcement
7 new names were included in the BCCI Central contract, whereas Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer returned to the list as the BCCI announced their central contract for 2025.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Central Contract for the 2025-26 season on Monday, 21st April 2025. 7 new players were added to the contract, while players like Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan returned to the list after missing out last time.
Last year, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were left out of the BCCI central contract after opting out of the domestic games for their respective state teams. BCCI's focus on domestic cricket left them out of the central contract despite being part of the Indian team set up a few months ago.
But, this time, both the Indian batters were added to the contract after Iyer won everything in the domestic cricket last season, along with lifting the IPL 2024 with Kolkata Knight Riders. Ishan Kishan also played through the entire domestic season and has been rewarded with the contract too.
Talking points from the BCCI Central Contract 2025
Rohit and Kohli stay in Grade A+
Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli remained in the Grade A+ category despite retiring from the T20I format. Rohit and Virat had announced their retirement from the shortest format of the game after lifting the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies.
Ravindra Jadeja is another name who has been listed in the A+ category despite retiring from the T20Is after the World Cup victory.
Bumrah is the only all-format player in A+
With Rohit, Kohli and Jadeja retiring from the shortest format of the game, Jasprit Bumrah remains the only all-format player to be in the A+ category of the BCC Central Contract 2025.
Pant is promoted to the Grade A category
Rishabh Pant received a promotion to the A category after being in the B category last year. Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami are the other names in the A category, who were already there in last year's contract.
Ravi Ashwin has been left out of the contract since he retired from international cricket.
Iyer listed in grade B; Kishan in grade C
Shreyas Iyer, who was left out of the contract last year, has been included in the Grade B, while Ishan Kishan has been listed in the Grade C.
Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal are the other names in Grade B, who were there last time as well.
New 7 names in Grade C
Nitish Kumar Reddy was among the seven new names in the BCCI Central Contract. Image | Assoicated Press
7 new players have been added to the BCCI Central Contract 2025. All of these players found themselves in Grade C.
Dhruv Jurel, Sarafraz Khan, Nitish Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana, and Akash Deep are the players who received the contract for their performances in the last season.
Not to be confused, Akash Deep earlier had a fast bowling contract and this year received the central contract after doing well in the Test format.
Shardul Thakur, Jitesh Sharma, KS Bharath, Avesh Khan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa have been left out of the contract this year.
Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa were all part of the fast bowling contract last season.
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