The Buzz
Netherlands players become total Indian bros
ESPNcricinfo staff
13-Nov-2023
Netherlands' players seem to have really assimilated into the local culture during the month and half that they have been in India, learning street slang, craving vada pao and chai, and even figuring out the way the kissing sound you have to make to get someone's attention when in Mumbai.
When he's not threatening to beat people up, Logan van Beek is looking back fondly at Netherlands' World Cup. He discusses favourite moments, the best coffee maker, the story behind the SOUL hat, and the best bromance in the team with Bas de Leede, Max O'Dowd and Sylbrand Engelbrecht.
Full postIndia players enjoy a happy Diwali - round-up
ESPNcricinfo staff
13-Nov-2023
India's World Cup team, which hasn't lost game all tournament, enjoyed Diwali celebrations, dressing up and posing for photos with their families.
Other players also posted photos from their celebrations of the festival of light.
Full postGroundsmen announce India's best fielder award
Who's the winner?
ESPNcricinfo staff
13-Nov-2023
India have reached the semi-finals of the World Cup without dropping a game, but perhaps more than the emphatic wins, what the players are relishing is getting the best fielder medal, a dressing-room award given by their fielding coach, T Dilip. He has announced the winners in a creative fashion and for India's final league game, against Netherlands in Bengaluru, he roped in some very important people - Chinnaswamy's groundsmen held up signs to declare Suryakumar Yadav as the winner.
At Eden Gardens after the 243-run victory over South Africa, the four contenders for the medal were asked to stand in a circle by the sight screen and a camera buggy panned on each player before freezing on the eventual winner, captain Rohit Sharma. Below are the other the medal-winning announcements.
Full postKohli and Rohit take wickets for India
ESPNcricinfo staff
13-Nov-2023
It's always fun to watch batters turn their arm over. They look delighted to get the chance and sometimes even seem surprised when they get a wicket. Kohli, who was jokingly described by India coach Rahul Dravid as a " "wrong footed inswinging menace", managed it against Netherlands on Sunday (with a pretty ordinary ball, to be honest), which probably means the fans' "Kohli ko bowling do" ["Give Kohli the ball"] chants won't end soon.
Rohit Sharma also bowled, and got Netherlands' top scorer, Teja Nidamanuru, dismissed to seal India's ninth straight win of the World Cup.
Full postPakistan can still qualify for the World Cup semis - Wasim Akram has an idea
ESPNcricinfo staff
10-Nov-2023
Pakistan are virtually out of the race to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals, needing to beat England by 287 runs in their final league game. However, Wasim Akram has a plan for victory that might be simpler to achieve. On "The Pavilion", a talk show on A Sports, a Pakistan-based sports TV channel, he told the other panelists off camera (although on the air he doesn't seem to recall his own idea) that Pakistan should bat first, get to their total and then lock England in their dressing room for 20 minutes to make sure all their batters get timed out! It's not a totally unworkable idea... is it?
Full postRachin Ravindra's childhood Bengaluru memories
ESPNcricinfo staff
09-Nov-2023
He already shared part of Sachin Tendulkar's name, so it must have been very special for ten-year-old Rachin Ravindra to watch the legend bat at the Chinnaswamy. But what's even more special is that 13 years on, he has the Bengaluru crowd chanting his name the way they used to for Tendulkar.
Full post