Fast bowler Mohammed Shami has now responded to accusations by former Pakistani cricketer Hasan Raza. He alleged that India used different balls to bowl during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023. Shami expressed his disappointment on his Instagram story and suggested that Raza should focus on the game.

India are undefeated in the ongoing ICC Men's World Cup 2023, winning all eight of their matches and securing a spot in the semi-finals. Raza's first claim was that the ICC and BCCI were favouring the Indian team by providing them with different balls than other teams. He claimed that after India's dominant performance against Sri Lanka, where they bowled out the opposition for just 55 runs while defending 357 runs. Mohammed Shami played a crucial role, taking 5/18 in that match.

Raza further claimed that the BCCI was manipulating the Decision Review System (DRS) in India's favour, after a controversial LBW decision involving Heinrich Klaasen.

Also Read: The Greatest Cricket World Cup Innings Ever

Shami responded by saying, "Sharm karo yaar game par focus karo na ki faltu bakwas par kabhi to dusre ki success ko enjoy kia karo, Chii yaar ICC World Cup hai apka local cricket tournament, nahi hai or aap player hi the naa."

Shami also pointed out Raza's former player status, implying that he should give more weight to the advice of cricket legends like Wasim Akram, who hails from the same country as Raza. He sarcastically noted that Raza appeared more focused on self-promotion than other things.

"Wasim bhai ne samjhaya hai explain kia tha phir bhi. Apne player, apne Wasim Akram par yakin nahi apko apna tarif karne main lage hai janab aap to just like a wow," Shami said.

"We are seeing that when they are batting, they bat really well and suddenly the ball starts doing things when India bowl. There have been 7-8 close DRS calls that have gone in their favour. The way Siraj and Shami were swinging the ball, it seemed like the ICC or the BCCI were giving them different and suspicious balls in the second innings. There needs to be an inspection done on the ball. There could also be an extra layer of coating on the ball for swing," Raza said while speaking to a channel called ABN.

Earlier, in response to Raza's allegations, even Pakistani legend Wasim Akram dismissed these claims, suggesting that such allegations were baseless and absurd.

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.

Also Read: The Kohli Effect: Will Indian fans lose interest in Test cricket after Virat Kohli's retirement?

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.

Also Read: Fav four in Test cricket: Kohli vs Root vs Williamson vs Smith stats in Tests

India's ODI schedule till World Cup 2027

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.

Also Read: India-Pakistan War: How Indian athletes reacted to it

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.

Also Read: Rohit Sharma stats in Tests: Is Rohit the greatest test opener since Virender Sehwag?

Gujarat-Bengaluru have 3-3 matches left

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.

If anyone has followed cricket casually over the last decade, they're likely familiar with four key names: former Indian captain Virat Kohli, batting genius Steve Smith, English great Joe Root, and New Zealand's all-time leading run-scorer Kane Williamson.

They together are known as the 'Fab Four' in the modern era of cricket.

Each of them has set new benchmarks for performance, continually pushing one another to enhance their skills. These four batsmen have not only dominated the world of cricket but have also met the expectations of their respective nations.

In this article, we will examine the statistics of the Fab Four across all formats.

Fav Four in cricket: How many runs & centuries have they scored in International Cricket?

Virat Kohli has been the most prolific all-format batter among the fav-four. Kohli, till now in his 550 international games, has scored 27,599 runs with an outstanding average of 52.27. His record of 82 international centuries is only second to Sachin Tendulkar's 100 international centuries.

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Joe Root comes in second among them with 20,724 runs so far for England across formats. However, undoubtedly, he has been the best test batter of his generation with 12972 test runs, which sets him as the highest test run scorer for England. Root has also scored 53 international hundreds, of which 36 came in tests only.

Read Also | Winners list of last 10 ICC Tournaments (men's)

Kane Williamson, New Zealand's highest runscorer in international cricket, comes at number three in terms of international runs among the fav four. The former Kiwi leader has scored 19,086 runs so far in his career at an average of 48.56. Kane is now only two short of reaching 50 international hundreds. 

Read Also | Most Test runs in 2024: Root, Jaiswal, Duckett and more

Aussie great Steven Smith comes at four with 17,165 runs at an average of 47.81. A late bloomer with the bat, Smith has been outstanding for Australia in tests and ODIs. Along with Root, Smith has also been one of the greatest test batters of this generation.

Here is a comparison of international stats of the fav four. 

Read Also: Most Wickets in Test Cricket

Fab Four in Cricket: Stats across different formats

Virat Kohli (IND)

Joe Root (ENG)

Kane Williamson (NZ)

Steven Smith (AUS)

Note: The article was initially written by Abishek Goswami and then got updated by Koushik Biswas

Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Test cricket on Wednesday. 38-year-old Rohit had already retired from T20I cricket. For now, he will continue to play for India in the ODI format and he is also the captain of Team India in this format. After this announcement by Rohit, his 11-year long Test cricket career also came to an end.

Rohit Sharma had a very good Test cricket career and he played for India in this format from number one to number six. However, he was very successful as an opener in Test cricket. 

Also Read: Rohit Sharma stats in tests

Let's take a look at Rohit Sharma stats in Tests as an opener.

Rohit scored most centuries as an opener

Rohit scored 4301 runs in 67 Test matches played in his career at an average of 40.57 with 12 centuries and 18 half-centuries, but he scored the most centuries as an opener.

Rohit was elevated to that role for the first time in October 2019, and since then, no other opener has scored as many tons. Overall, only four batters have scored more Test tons than Rohit in this period.

Rohit Sharma stats in Tests: Most sixes for India

Rohit has hit a total of 88 sixes in his Test cricket career and is second on the list of batsmen who have hit the most sixes for India in the longer format of cricket. If he had hit 3 more sixes in the Test, he would have become the batsman who has hit the most sixes in Tests for India. The record for hitting the most sixes in Tests for India is held by Virender Sehwag who hit a total of 90 sixes.

Rohit Sharma stats in Tests: Most centuries for India in won Test matches

Rohit Sharma is at number 5 in the list of batsmen who have scored the most centuries in Test matches won by India. He has scored a total of 12 centuries in Test matches won by India. Sachin Tendulkar is at the top of this list with 20 centuries.

• 20 - Sachin Tendulkar 
• 15 - Rahul Dravid 
• 14 - Virat Kohli
• 13 - Cheteshwar Pujara 
• 12 - Rohit Sharma

Also Read: Rohit Sharma in ICC tournaments for India

Rohit Sharma stats in Tests as an opener

As an opener in Test cricket, Rohit scored a total of 2697 runs in 66 innings for India. During this period, his average was 42.81 while in these 66 innings, he also scored 9 centuries and 8 half-centuries. His best score as an opener in Tests was 212 runs.

The ICC has officially announced that the Final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 will be held at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground on 5th July. The news was shared during a special launch event at Lord’s on 1st May.

Alongside this major reveal, it was confirmed that the matches will also be played at other popular venues across England, including Edgbaston, the Hampshire Bowl, Headingley, Old Trafford, The Oval, and the Bristol County Ground.

The tournament is set to kick off on 12th June and will run for 24 days, featuring a total of 33 matches leading up to the highly anticipated final at Lord’s. The complete match schedule is expected to be released soon.

Featuring a record 12 teams, the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will be the biggest edition in the tournament’s history. With two more teams than the previous edition, fans can expect fierce competition as the world’s top sides battle it out for the title.

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Qualified Teams for the Women's T20 World Cup 2026

Four additional teams will join them through the Qualifier scheduled next year.

The 12 teams will be split into two groups of six for the group stage, followed by the knockout rounds and finals.

Official Statement

ICC Chairman Jay Shah opened up about the tournament, saying, "The confirmation of venues represents a defining moment as we build towards the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026"

"The sell-out Women’s Cricket World Cup final at Lord’s in 2017 remains a landmark in the rise of the women’s game, and I cannot think of a more fitting stage for the final."

"As we turn our focus to preparing for the tournament, we are excited by the promise of thrilling T20 action that will not only captivate fans here but also serve as a showcase for cricket’s return on the Olympic stage in Los Angeles 2028."

Legacy

Moving on from the most recent edition, hosted by Bangladesh in the UAE in 2024, saw New Zealand claim their first-ever title, defeating South Africa by 32 runs in the final.

The 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup will mark the milestone 10th edition of the tournament, which began in 2009.