The Buzz

Hazing the newbie is a cherished tradition across sports, and Wasim Akram wasn't spared either. During his early county cricket stint in England, Akram recalled being the victim of a long-running prank by Lancashire teammate Michael Watkinson. At the time Akram was only 21, alone in a foreign country and still adjusting to life away from Pakistan. "Remember those days when we used to have those cricket bags? We used to call them coffins without wheels. Now you can carry it or you have people carry it for you. In county cricket we used to carry our kit bags ourselves. And I was very young, and didn't know I have to wash my old clothes - we're a bit spoiled in Pakistan, our moms do everything!"

Players spend a lot of time with each other during tournaments, so it's a good time to spill some secrets for fans.

Among the Southern brave squad, who's most likely to get locked in their hotel room? Turns out that's already happened to Maia Bouchier! She is also likely to be the one to shadow-batting in public and to clap when the plane lands.

Who's most likely to watch their own highlights and repost them on social media? Twenty-one-year-old batter James Coles appears to be the popular choice. Like Bouchier, he also seems likely to be the one to clap when the plane lands.

The last we saw of Rishabh Pant was him being golf-carted off the field at Old Trafford after suffering a foot fracture, but then hobbling back in on one leg to try and add a few more runs to India's score. It was all very heroic and sombre.

The good news is that the injury has done absolutely nothing to dent his sense of humour. He recently posted a video of him in a pizza kitchen in an unnamed location, attempting his hand at pies; no, he wasn't bowling. The kitchen cameo comes weeks after he limped through a gritty 54 at Old Trafford despite the injury, helping India draw the fourth Test. Now, with six weeks on the sidelines, Pant's swapping the middle order for the middle rack of the oven.

British rock band Oasis are on a reunion tour, so naturally it's the right time to ask cricketers what their favourite song from the group is. These were the picks from London Spirit Men's players:

Captain Kane Williamson picks "Don't Look Back In Anger" from the 1996 album (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, although, along with several other of his team-mates, "Wonderwall" also features high on his list "after the amount of buskers I've heard play that."

For David Warner, "Wonderwall" is the only Oasis song he knows, while Ryan Higgins needs some help, asking team-mate Richard Gleeson: "What do Oasis sing?"

Jasprit Bumrah traded his bowling chops for potato chops - near enough - for SPORTbible's Snack Wars, pitting British munchies against Indian crunchies… and the results will shock you, somewhat.

First up it's Scampi fries versus the Indian staple bhujia. It looks like it might be a clean sweep for team bhujia as Bumrah scoffs at the size of the fries packet: "We Indians don't believe in small portions," he laughs. But the Scampi fries land like a Bumrah yorker to take this round on their cream-and-onion flavour - England wins this round.

Is Rashid Khan a morning person? Yes, as long it's not early morning and is more like "early afternoon". In a "This or That" feature, Rashid picks winters over summers, road trips over plane rides - "tired of planes!" and beaches over mountains. And since he's not a boomer, he obviously (and rightly) picks texting over phone calls.