Duleep Trophy: East bowl out Central for 266; South in control vs North

India fast bowler Mukesh Kumar and fellow right-arm medium pacer Abhijit Sarkar scalped three wickets apiece to bowl out Central Zone for 266 against East Zone on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy semifinal here on Sunday.

East Zone captain Ishan Kishan's decision to bowl first after winning the toss was bang on as Mukesh (3/56) and Sarkar (3/38) shared six wickets between them, while Mohammed Shami (2/42) and off-spinner Md Kounain Quraishi (2/49) picked up two wickets each to bundle out Central Zone in 80.1 overs.

Rinku Singh (60 off 88), and opener-cum-wicketkeeper Aryan Juyal (46) were the top-scorers for Central Zone. catcross.org

Central Zone never got the going after being sent into bat as they lost wickets at regular intervals to lose half of their side at 125 by 45th over.

Rinku and Harsh Dubey (27) then tried to stabilise the innings, stitching together 55 runs for the sixth wicket to keep the momentum for Central Zone.

But once Dubey was caught in plumb in front of the wicket by Quraishi in the 60th over, Central Zone's innings fell apart.

Saransh Jain (13) and Aryan Pandey (22) got starts but failed to capitalise. Tail-ender Yash Thakur (30 off 26) used his big-hitting skills to get Central Zone forward but the innings eventually folded inside the 300-run mark.

Brief Scores:
Central Zone: 266 all out in 80.1 overs (Rinku Singh 60, Aryan Juyal 46; Abhijit Sarkar 3/38, Mukesh Kumar 3/56).

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My first memory of the Asian Games is an elephant called Appu and a television called Apsara. It was 1982. I was 13, in Class 8 at Don Bosco, Park Circus, Calcutta, and the Asian Games in Delhi seemed to have suddenly taken over India. Appu was based on a real elephant called Kuttinarayanan, which I found out much later.

I didn’t know that Appu was also the first mascot in Asian Games history. Or that Delhi 1982 would mark another historic transition, with China topping the medal table for the first time and ending Japan’s dominance.
Forty-four years later, with the Asian Games heading to Aichi-Nagoya in Japan from September 19 to October 4, 2026, it is worth dipping into the Asiad’s wonderful book of trivia.

The first Asian Games were held in New Delhi in 1951, with just 11 participating countries, 489 athletes and six sports. Japan finished comfortably on top of the medal table.

Hangzhou 2022, eventually staged in 2023 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, brought together more than 12,000 athletes from 45 National Olympic Committees. The Asian Games had become bigger than the Olympics in terms of participating athletes.

Another interesting aspect is that the Thai capital, Bangkok, has hosted the Games four times — in 1966, 1970, 1978 and 1998. The 1970 Games were originally scheduled to be held in Seoul, but South Korea withdrew because of financial and security concerns. Bangkok stepped in, having hosted the Games just four years earlier.

Sport has never existed entirely outside politics, and Asian Games history reflects Asia’s complicated geopolitical journey. Israel, for example, participated in the Asian Games during its early decades and won medals, including football gold in 1974. It subsequently ceased participating in the Games and eventually became part of the European sporting structure.

The Asiad has also been willing to embrace sports that reflect the continent rather than simply replicate the Olympic programme. So we have had kabaddi from South Asia, sepak takraw from Southeast Asia, wushu from China, kurash from Central Asia and pencak silat from Indonesia and the wider Southeast Asian region.

You can win an Asian Games medal without running anywhere. The Asian Games have had a wonderfully elastic interpretation of sport. Chess, bridge and xiangqi — Chinese chess — have all featured. Bridge was included at Jakarta 2018, producing one of the more unusual sights at a major multi-sport event: athletes sitting calmly at card tables while, elsewhere in the city, marathon runners were discovering entirely different definitions of suffering.

Cricket was remarkably late to the party.
For a continent containing India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, cricket’s Asian Games history is surprisingly brief. It first appeared at Guangzhou 2010. Cricket then disappeared from Jakarta 2018 before returning at Hangzhou, when India finally entered and promptly won both the men’s and women’s gold medals.

For decades, the idea of India winning 100 medals at a single Asian Games seemed fanciful.

At Jakarta 2018, India won 69 medals. Then came Hangzhou, where India finished with a record 107 medals — 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze.

For someone whose first Asian Games memories involved Appu appearing through occasional static on Apsara, 107 Indian medals feels like another age entirely.

And so to Aichi-Nagoya 2026. The Games will feature 43 sports, ranging from athletics, swimming and gymnastics to kabaddi, kurash, wushu, cricket and esports. And in a sign of how the definition of competitive sport continues to evolve, padel and teqball are also on the programme.

Somewhere over its 75-year journey, the Asian Games have developed a brand proposition that no other major sporting event can quite replicate.

The Olympics is the world’s greatest celebration of sport. The Asian Games need not try to be a smaller version of it. Its strength lies precisely in being different.
Its cultural diversity makes it truly an event that showcases a thousand ways to play.

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Bharath Ramaraj, CoE

Qamran Iqbal’s batting brings out the essence of first-class cricket. The 25-year-old opener from Srinagar may never play for India at the highest level. His rather curious game may not necessarily cajole fans to flock to the stadium just to watch him bat. Yet, his self-made technique is compelling to watch. In the ongoing Duleep Trophy semifinal between South Zone and North Zone at the Centre of Excellence, Qamran accrued 76 runs for North. But for much of that innings, his struggles at the crease were evident.

On occasions, while trying to drive Tanay Thyagarajan, the spinner, his bottom hand came off the handle. At times, he seemed caught in two minds over whether to play at Vidwath Kaverappa’s offerings. While attempting the flick against the quicker bowlers, he once again looked rushed. He also offered a couple of chances that South Zone failed to grab. Despite all that, he managed a gutsy 76. More importantly, his innings offered a glimpse into the grind of first-class cricket and how every run has to be earned.

Just a few months ago, Qamran also had to earn his place in the Jammu and Kashmir side for the Ranji Trophy final against Karnataka. At the eleventh hour, J&K’s regular opener picked up an injury. Qamran had to take three different flights before linking up with the squad just minutes before the start of play. He went on to score 160 in the second innings. That knock, too, had its share of plays and misses, hacks and shots played after backing away towards the leg side. Vijaykumar Vyshak, the Karnataka pace bowler, was visibly frustrated by Qamran’s methods. In an imaginary sense, all Qamran might have said to his opponent was: Look up at the scorecard, mate.

The ongoing semifinal between North and South also saw Vidwath Kaverappa pick up four wickets. The tall Karnataka pacer had missed the aforementioned Ranji Trophy final, with the coaching staff preferring Vidyadhar Patil. For a bowler who had earned a BCCI fast-bowling contract not too long ago, it was a downward slide. Due to a variety of reasons, including a shin injury, Kaverappa has played fewer than 10 first-class matches since the start of the 2024-25 season.

Returning to the Duleep Trophy semifinal, Kaverappa had figures of 0/38 after seven overs at one stage before bouncing back in style. The 27-year-old was measured when speaking to a select media gathering after the day’s play. “I am not really over the moon or something like that,” Kaverappa told reporters on Sunday at the BCCI Centre of Excellence. “I’m just taking one game at a time and not thinking too far ahead. I know the kind of bowling I can produce. So I cannot relax or be complacent with this.” The salient feature of his bowling was the way he extracted enough lift from a slow deck and got the ball to cut off the seam.

In the other semifinal between Central and East Zone, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi took over the captaincy duties after Ishan Kishan was hit on the hand and hogged the limelight.
But the hero of the day’s play from that game was Rinku Singh. The left-hand batter was not picked in the original squad for the 2024 Duleep Trophy. Last year, he played very few first-class matches because of his national commitments.

In that context, it felt like a moment of significance in Rinku’s career when he looked heavenwards after reaching a gutsy fifty. It was a quintessential Rinku innings. He ran like a jackrabbit between the wickets, turning ones into twos and constantly putting pressure on the fielding side. Essentially, he became the fulcrum of Central Zone’s total of 266.

So, that was about the three musketeers of the day. All three are at slightly different stages of their respective careers. But on the given day, the threesome, representing different teams, had one common trait: the ability to soak up pressure and rise to the occasion.

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Indonesia are all set to make their debut in the Women’s Asia Cup. Following an impressive outing in the ACC Women’s Premier Cup 2026, they secured qualification and now face a historic campaign. They are placed in Group B alongside Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Captain: Nanda Sakarini

Head coach: Nuwan Shiroman

Squad

Nanda Sakarini (c), Kadek Winda Prastini, Rahmawati Pangestuti, Wesika Ratna Dewi, Rada Rani, Desi Wulandari, Putri Suwandewi, Kisi Salisa Kasse, Sang Maypriani, Ni Kadek Ariani, Derni Bangi, Dara Agung Laksmi, Lie Qiao, Maria Corazon Wombaki, Sofia Velic

Key players: Nanda Sakarini, Sang Maypriani, Wesika Ratna Dewi and Putri Suwandewi.

Fixtures

Bangladesh vs Indonesia, August 31, Dubai

Sri Lanka vs Indonesia, September 2, Dubai

UAE vs Indonesia, September 4, Dubai

How did they qualify for the tournament?

Indonesia earned their first-ever qualification for the Women’s Asia Cup this year after an impressive performance in the ACC Women’s Premier Cup 2026. First, they topped their group, winning all three of their matches. Then, they defeated Oman by 113 runs to seal their berth in the Asia Cup. However, they later lost to Thailand in the semi-final but defeated Hong Kong, China in the third-place play-off.

Form in T20Is in 2026 so far

15 matches – 10 wins, five losses

Their last competitive T20I assignment was the China Women’s Tri-Series, where they lost to China in the final. The final was played on August 24.

Top T20I performers in 2026 so far

Highest scorer – Nanda Sakarini: 366 runs, average 52.28, strike rate 96.31, two fifties, highest score 56* vs Nepal

Highest wicket-taker – Sang Maypriani: 15 wickets, economy 4.11, best figures 3/8 vs China

Note

• Nanda Sakarini, the captain, is the only Indonesia batter with more than 1,000 WT20I runs to her tally – 1,570 runs in 63 innings so far.
• Putri Suwandewi is one of only two Indonesia bowlers to have taken more than 50 WT20I wickets – 67 wickets in 64 innings so far.

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Suryakumar Yadav has opened up about his biggest regret in international cricket. He admitted that he is disappointed with his performance in the ODI format. He said he did not put in the hard work that the format demanded. He made his ODI debut in 2021 and played 37 matches. He scored 773 runs at an average of 25.76. He played his last ODI in the 2023 World Cup final against Australia, where he scored 18 off 28 balls.

He said he only played one Test match and did not get another chance after that. But he is not disappointed about Tests. His real disappointment lies with ODIs. He believes ODI cricket is the most difficult format for a batter. He explained that it requires a careful balance between building an innings and accelerating at the right moments. He said he could not crack the method for that format, even though he knew he would likely bat at five or six.

He admitted that he failed to develop the necessary preparation and practice routines. He acknowledged that his limited ODI appearances passed quickly without him making the most of the opportunity. He also said he discusses his ODI regrets with his family. His wife often asks him if he thinks he could have played more ODI cricket. He tells her he did not work hard enough. He believes that where he put in the effort, he got the rewards. Where he did not, he did not get results.

He concluded by stressing the importance of honest self-reflection. He said you have to look at yourself in the mirror every day. He asked, “How can you lie to the person standing in the mirror?” He said it has to be an honest reflection. He is using his regret as motivation to do better.

Suryakumar Yadav Reveals Shocking World Cup Stories and Career Regrets

Suryakumar Yadav had a year of extremes in 2026. He led India to victory in the T20 World Cup at home. But soon after, he was dropped from the T20I team and stripped of the captaincy. He opened up in a candid podcast with Aakash Chopra.

The Shock of Being Dropped

Suryakumar admitted he was completely shocked when he was dropped. He said he sat at home for 40 to 50 days and did nothing. He was confused and did not know what to do next. A lot was going on in his mind. He said he smiled when he saw his name was missing from the squad. He explained that he has always smiled in pressure situations. He has done that throughout his career. He also said he did not react to the selectors’ decision. He accepted that they felt it was best for the team.

The Conversation with Sanju Samson

Suryakumar revealed a conversation he had with Sanju Samson during the World Cup. Samson was dropped from the playing XI due to poor form. Suryakumar told him it was going to be difficult. Samson’s response was incredible. He said his captain should do whatever was right to help the team win. He said he would prepare as if he were playing and would be ready whenever needed. Suryakumar said he gained a lot of confidence from that. He said it showed him that there are selfless people in life.

The Anger at Kuldeep Yadav

Suryakumar also revealed that he was angry with spinner Kuldeep Yadav during a World Cup match against Pakistan. Kuldeep was disappointed at not being given the ball. There was a chance of a catch when he was at long-on. Suryakumar said Kuldeep ran very casually, an easy catch according to his skills. He dropped it. Suryakumar said he got angry because Kuldeep did not put in any effort. He said he would have been fine if he had made an effort and still dropped it.

Backing Abhishek Sharma

Suryakumar spoke about his faith in opener Abhishek Sharma. Abhishek had a horror start to the World Cup. He scored three consecutive ducks. But Suryakumar continued to back him. He said he understood from the first time he saw him that he was a match-winner. He wanted a player who could do the things Abhishek does. Abhishek repaid the faith. He scored 55 off 30 in the Super 8 match against Zimbabwe. He also scored 52 off 21 in the final against New Zealand.

FAQs

Q. What is Suryakumar Yadav’s biggest ODI regret?

A. Suryakumar regrets not working hard enough in ODI cricket.

Q. How many ODI runs did Suryakumar score?

A. Suryakumar scored 773 runs in 37 ODI matches.

Q. When did Suryakumar play his last ODI?

A. His last ODI came in the 2023 World Cup final.

Q. Why was Suryakumar angry with Kuldeep Yadav?

A. Suryakumar was upset because Kuldeep did not make enough effort.

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