The Buzz

We always enjoy the chance to get to know players better. In this interview Kolkata Knight Riders batter Rinku Singh talks about some of his favourites.

He starts with the toughest bowler he has faced: Jasprit Bumrah, who he says is tough to read. In four IPL innings, Rinku has scored 10 runs off Bumrah. His cricketing role model hasn't changed over the years: Suresh Raina.

He's also asked what question he'd like to ask his KKR team-mates Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. Rinku says he wants to know why Narine doesn't smile in celebration after taking a wicket, and from Russell, he'd like to learn the secret to hitting big sixes. His favourite food is a classic - chicken tikka masala - although he throws in a trendier item in avocado toast. Rinku also discusses his motorbike collection, the European holiday on his wishlist, and his favourite movie - which is not a Shah Rukh Khan film - although he quickly adds that his favourite actor has always been SRK. Nice save, Rinku.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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."

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.

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.

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.