After a long time, a day without a Champions Trophy update. However, there was still some news regarding the ICC tournament. Ahmad Shazad has suggested building a stadium on the border for the India vs Pakistan match. Talk about an outlandish idea. In franchise cricket news, Rashid Khan has been appointed captain of Mumbai Indians (MI) Cape Town, while Rinku Singh is ready to captain Kolkata Knight Riders. The drama between Prithvi Shaw and the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has intensified. A politician has written to India’s Sports Minister to honour Ravichandran Ashwin with the Khel Ratna Award. And lastly, captaincy emotionally broke Virat Kohli to such a point that he would cry in his room after tough losses on away tours.
Anushka Sharma walked in on Virat Kohli crying
Captaincy isn’t easy. Anjali Tendulkar, wife of Sachin Tendulkar, had revealed that the cricketer wouldn’t talk to anyone after Team India lost a match, not for hours but days. The same happened to his successor, Virat Kohli. Batting and scoring runs were easy for both, but captaincy wasn’t. In a podcast, Varun Dhawan revealed an incident from the 2018 England tour, which India lost 1-4. Anushka Sharma once came back to their room and found Kohli lying on the floor crying.
Prithvi Shaw vs MCA continues
The drama isn’t dying down. The Prithvi Shaw against MCA is growing day by day. December 20 started with an MCA official claiming that senior players in Mumbai’s team weren’t happy with the opener and that he was partying until the morning during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The day ended with Prithvi replying to these claims, writing, “Too many people have full opinions with half the facts.”
Khel Ratna Award for Ashwin?
Ashwin could become just the sixth cricketer to be honoured with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. Vijay Vasanth, a Congress MP from Tamil Nadu, has written to Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya regarding felicitating the recently retired cricketer.
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India vs Pakistan on India-Pakistan border
Former Pakistan opener Ahmad Shahzad has given probably the most bizarre cricket idea one can ever come across. He says that the upcoming India vs Pakistan match in the ICC Champions Trophy should take place at the border between the two nations, and Indian players should enter the stadium from their side and Pakistani players from their side.
Rinku Singh, the new KKR captain
Rinku Singh is ready to lead KKR in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season if given the responsibility. Recently named Uttar Pradesh’s captain for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Rinku stated that he’s not thinking about the franchise’s captaincy right now but instead focusing on taking UP to the title. But the opportunity comes his way, he’ll gleefully accept it.
Rashid Khan, MI’s SA20 captain
Rashid Khan has been named captain of MI Cape Town for the SA20 2025 season. The leg-spinner was chosen over Ben Stokes. Rashid was the franchise’s captain in 2023, but after missing last season, Cape Town reappointed the Gujarat Titans star.