The Buzz
Jemimah Rodrigues eats off her own headlines
ESPNcricinfo staff
28-May-2025
It's pretty routine for cricketers to make it to the front page of the newspaper in India, but to have your meal wrapped in the same paper? Now that's special.
India batter Jemimah Rodrigues got to enjoy the experience when she went to have bhelpuri and found that the newspaper the vendor had put out for wrapping the food had headlines from her half-century on Test debut, against England in Mumbai in 2023.
"This bhaiya doesn't know that I'm going to eat bhel in the same newspaper he's going to make it in," Rodrigues says in the video while pointing to the Mid-Day newspaper headline titled, "Jemi-Wah".
Full postThe Duckett-Muzarabani swap
ESPNcricinfo staff
26-May-2025
The first England-Zimbabwe Test in 22 years was a success in more ways than one: the fans loved it, some terrific perfromances came of it, and the players go along famously together. So much so that England's Ben Duckett and Zimbabwe's Blessing Muzarabani swapped pads, with... interesting results.
For context, Duckett comes in at a height of 5 ft 7 in, reasonable by any standard, but not when you're standing next to a 6 ft 8 in Muzarabani - which turned the pacer's pads into a full body shield for Duckett. It's great for facing bouncers, not so much when every movement is likely to result in an lbw.
Full postCan Pat Cummins and Co guess these former cricketing greats from their photos?
ESPNcricinfo staff
23-May-2025
A guessing game using partial photos of cricketers - that's the kind of contest that gets our blood pumping. How did the Sunrisers Hyderabad players (SRH) do in trying to identify these former greats?
They started strong, with SRH captain Pat Cummins identifying former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd right from the first sliver of a photo. Cummins was pretty quick to guess Ian Botham's photo as well while the Indian duo of Simarjeet Singh and Jaydev Unadkat wasted no time in guessing Kapil Dev.
So it was a little surprising when none of the five SRH players - Cummins, Simarjeet, Unadkat, Wiaan Mulder and Nitish Kumar Reddy - could pick two other greats from that 1970s-80s era: Australian tearaway Jeff Thomson and the lethal West Indian fast bowler Malcolm Marshall. Mulder's guesses for Marshall included Nicholas Pooran, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo and Dwayne Smith!
However, almost everyone identified an all-time great from an older era - Don Bradman.
Full postGetting to know the real Sam Cook
ESPNcricinfo staff
21-May-2025
Seam bowler Sam Cook will make his England debut when he plays the one-off Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, starting May 22. So who is he? You'll get the nerdy details elsewhere on ESPNcricinfo, but social media is where the juicy stuff is revealed.
In this quickfire interview, Cook gives cricket fans the lowdown on his favourite cheat meal, his dream Test wicket, his hidden talent, and more.
The most famous person he's ever met is the man who is going to captain him in his first Test: Ben Stokes.
Full postWhat is Rahul Dravid writing in the dugout during IPL games?
ESPNcricinfo staff
21-May-2025
It's one of the burning questions of IPL 2025: what's Rahul Dravid been scribbling away all through Rajasthan Royals' games this season (the joke being: it's 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi's homework).
But now the Royals coach is ready to reveal it himself: he's keeping score.
"I have a particular way of scoring a game, both the T20 game and the one-day game, Dravid explained.
Full postSunrisers try to guess their team-mates from their baby photos
ESPNcricinfo staff
19-May-2025
Baby photos of cricketers - sign us up for this guessing game. How do Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) players do when trying to figure out what their team-mates looked like as kids?
First up, Ishan Kishan, who bigs up… his own photo by saying: "This is an insane superstar. Such a cute kid." Not a difficult guess either. "Just talks a bit more," adds Wiaan Mulder.
The next photo is a little harder to guess, although when the players know it's Abhinav Manohar, they joke about him losing hair right from his childhood days. Harsh!
Full postWhen Mr Wayne turned bat-man for Kusal Mendis
ESPNcricinfo staff
17-May-2025
Travel can be a hassle. No (worthwhile) trip is ever complete without face-palming about something you forgot. Kusal Mendis took it to a little bit of an extreme when he sort of forgot all his equipment in the rush to get from point A to point B.
The Sri Lanka top-order batter, who plays some of the smoothest checked drives you have ever seen, was at PSL 2025 last week and had to leave all of a sudden when cross-border tensions erupted between India and Pakistan. In his haste to return home, Mendis had to leave his kit bag behind and every effort he made to get it back just wouldn't come off.
unfortunately when I Had to leave @OfficialPSL suddenly I had to leave my kitbag behind,Tried everything to get it down to join @ipl but nothing worked,when this amazing Sri Lankan Mr. Wayne who is living in Pakistan, flew all the way to colombo to bring my kitbag amazing human. pic.twitter.com/fMU7WzD8gf
— Kusal Mendis (@KusalMendis13) May 17, 2025
The Schitt's Creek X Rajastan Royals crossover
ESPNcricinfo staff
15-May-2025
This is the crossover episode no one saw coming. After hosting Gareth Southgate at IPL games earlier this month, Rajasthan Royals have another visitor, this time from television royalty. Eugene Levy, star of beloved sitcom Schitt's Creek, dropped by the RR camp where he was met by coach Rahul Dravid, who handed him his own personalised RR jersey, much to the actor's joy and a little befuddlement.
just got real! Eugene Levy is a Royal pic.twitter.com/MHsQeQrXfP
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) May 13, 2025
Levy doesn't seem to have a watched a cricket match before, but he had better start now, and what better place to begin than the IPL?
Full postMumbai Indians' Tilak Varma and Telugu movie star Vijay Deverakonda face off in a pickleball match
ESPNcricinfo staff
07-May-2025
Mumbai Indians (MI) are currently tussling for a place in the IPL 2025 playoffs, and batter Tilak Varma got his competitive juices flowing even more with a pickleball game against Telugu film star Vijay Deverakonda.
At the start of their match, Deverakonda announced that he'd wear a Mumbai Indians jersey if he lost the best-of-three contest. The games, which also featured Raj Bawa as Varma's team-mate, were hard-fought, with Varma often looking like he was digging out yorkers. But eventually, Deverakonda and his partner beat the cricketers 2-1.
His demand for the losing team was to recreate a dance for the song "Hridayam Lopala" from his new movie Kingdom, set to release at the end of this month.
Full postSouthgate soaks in the IPL vibe
ESPNcricinfo staff
05-May-2025
You must have spotted him in the stands. In the pink of Rajasthan Royals (RR). Watching the team go about their business at IPL 2025. Gareth Southgate, former England footballer and later national team coach, is in India, and following RR's (dipping) fortunes at the IPL.
The pictures have been splashed across news outlets, and people wondered what had brought him to India, and to the RR corner. Turns out he met Manoj Badale, the British Indian businessman and one of the owners of RR and two "struck up a good friendship".
And it didn't take much persuasion to make a first trip to India or to drop in at the cricket.
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