The Buzz
Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jhurel, Nitish Rana, Sandeep Sharma play hilarious whisper game
ESPNcricinfo staff
04-Apr-2025
Off-field bonding can improve on-field teamwork, so we're naturally curious to see how these Rajasthan Royals team-mates do in a game of whisper - where one of them has to lip-read to guess what the other is saying.
It wasn't an easy contest. Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel start off well, but get into an argument about how exactly to act out "GOAT". They bounce back to work very well together to figure out "You are a pookie", with Jurel doing a very meme-worthy bunny ears.
No trouble at all for Nitish Rana to guess Sandeep Sharma's beard-stroking Pushpa dialogue. But the really impressive one is working out the Hindi tongue-twister "Pital ke pateele mein paka papita" [Cooking papaya in a brass vessel]. Jurel is confident that the other team won't get it and prematurely tells Parag that they have won the game, but Rana and Sandeep persist and get the answer.
Full postAustralia's winning moment in Boxing Day Test named Wisden Photograph of the Year
Andrew Miller
02-Apr-2025
A photograph of Australia's winning moment in their epic Boxing Day Test victory over India in December has been named as the Wisden Photograph of the Year.
Quinn Rooney captured his image of Nathan Lyon - and almost all his Australian colleagues - appealing for Ibw against India's Mohammed Siraj, as Australia won the fourth Test by 184 runs, to go 2-1 up in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Rooney has been a professional cricket photographer since 2005 - working for Getty Images for the past 19 years, and covering more than 40 Australian Tests.
Full postRashid Khan's Eid feast
ESPNcricinfo staff
02-Apr-2025
The Gujarat Titans had a lavish banquet set out for Eid, supervised by none other than Rashid Khan, who seemed more than pleased with what was on offer. On the menu was haleem, biryani, nalli nihari, kheema (which Rashid insisted no one could have except Karim Jannat, whose favourite it is), and tunday kebabs, among others. He was joined by his Gujarat team-mates, hopefully out of sight of the team nutritionist.
Rashid Khan himself is a more than adept cook. Two years ago, he'd cooked up one of Afghanistan's most beloved dishes, rosh - a salted lamb and potato stew - for Ramadan, for his no doubt homesick team-mates. We also learned in the course of the video that David Miller can't cook, but he can certainly braai.
Shivam Dube, Kane Williamson, Kumar Kartikeya get pranked on April Fool's Day
ESPNcricinfo staff
02-Apr-2025
If it's April 1, it must be players getting pranked at the IPL.
Poor Kumar Kartikeya was given a hard time by his Rajasthan Royals cohorts and content creator Taran Singh, who pretended to be annoyed, claiming he had been asked to interview Kumar Sangakkara but had to settle for Kartikeya instead. Behind the scenes Kartikeya's team-mate Yudhvir Singh and Royals fielding coach Dishant Yagnik were directing proceedings, telling Taran to ask Kartikeya to put away the ball he was holding. Taran does that, telling Kartikeya to "keep it professional". At this point, an upset Kartikeya suggested they stop the interview if Taran was not in the mood. He removed his mike and started walking away before he was accosted by Yagnik and Yudhvir and the prank was revealed.
Full postWhat goes into a Hyderabadi biryani, according to Abhishek Sharma?
ESPNcricinfo staff
31-Mar-2025
We're always ready to discuss anything biryani and stir up debate about what goes into it - we've divided the cricket fraternity into those who favour potatoes in biryani and those who don't - so of course we're all agog to hear what Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batter Abhishek Sharma believes are the three key ingredients in a biryani.
"I've never made biryani, but I love to eat it," Abhishek says. "There's rice in it, fried onions, and cinnamon, spices that Hyderabad is famous for." We'd have picked the protein of choice first, but all these are essential, of course.
Abhishek is playing his seventh season with Sunrisers, so naturally he was asked to pick other Hyderbad favourites, starting with his his top three cricketers: VVS Laxman, Mohammed Siraj and Ambati Rayudu.
Full postWatch Justin Langer's reaction to Matthew Hayden saying who was the better runner between them
ESPNcricinfo staff
31-Mar-2025
Starting up little debates, dredging up old rivalries within friendships - we at ESPNcricinfo can (sometimes) needle players as well as the Aussies of the old. And in this case, it was a couple of old battle-hardened Aussies that we managed to needle during IPL 2025.
On our "Would You Rather" show, we asked Matthew Hayden if he'd rather: Admit Justin Langer was a better runner than him or that England won the "moral Ashes" in 2023? It was a no-brainer for Hayden, who said: "JL [Langer] was not a good runner as me. I'm just not admitting that."
Full postR Ashwin plays chess with world champion Gukesh
ESPNcricinfo staff
28-Mar-2025
This is a crossover we're on board for: R Ashwin playing chess against Gukesh Dommaraju, the youngest world chess champion.
Ashwin keeps up a steady prattle (or maybe it's commentary), admitting he started the game off off a little too aggressively, joking about how seriously he takes his skills, worrying about whether Gukesh has laid a trap for him. Gukesh, in response, mumbles some encouraging words to Ashwin about his game.
Ashwin is playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2025. CSK will meet Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at home tonight, March 28.
Full postKane Williamson said what in Hindi now?
ESPNcricinfo staff
28-Mar-2025
Kane Williamson might not be playing IPL 2025, but that's not stopping him from entertaining all of us during the season. Instead of his batting, it's his sense of humour that we get to enjoy. Can this man do any wrong?
In this video, Harbhajan Singh asks Williamson to guess what the word "shatak" [hundred] means in Hindi, and gives him the clue: "How many you have? You have too many." To which Williamson guesses: "Children?" He also offers up "wickets" as an answer, possibly trying to impress the fellow offspinner with his 73 international wickets.
Full postDavid Warner seen in Telugu film Robinhood trailer
ESPNcricinfo staff
26-Mar-2025
David Warner's cricket career is still going strong - he's captaining Karachi Kings in the 2025 PSL - but that doesn't mean he can't have a side hustle, and no, we don't mean his TikTok videos.
Although in hindsight all that dancing and acting inside a phone screen seems to have been a dress-rehearsal for the big screen. Warner is making his debut in Indian movies with a cameo in the new Telugu film Robinhood, releasing this week. In the movie trailer, Warner steps off a helicopter while licking a lollipop.
Full postWhat's Glenn Phillips' truest love?
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Mar-2025
"What would you be if you weren't a cricketer?"
It's Glenn Phillips on the other side of the conversation, so you might know the answer without him having to spell it out. Think. What does he do on a cricket field? Okay, many things, but what do you recall most vividly?
Yup, flying!
Full post