News

New Delhi, May 15 (Ians) Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith is mesmerised with the Bhojpuri commentary feed that’s taken fans by storm over the past six weeks of the Ipl 2023.

The former left-handed opening batsman, who at the age of 22, was appointed Sa’s youngest-ever captain and held the position of Test captain till his retirement in 2014, said he’s become a huge fan of the word Bhojpuri.

Speaking about why he thinks JioCinema’s 12-language commentary feeds, especially Bhojpuri and Punjabi, have become such huge hits, Smith exclaimed: “I love the word Bhojpuri. I love it. I think I might use that often. I was actually chatting with Anil Kumble last night; I think it’s just the ability to connect with people on a level that feels like home.”

“It’s their language, so they can relate to it; it makes sense to them, and same with Punjabi.

New Delhi, May 12 (Ians) With 576 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 157.8, there is no doubt that Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis has been the stand-out batter of Ipl 2023. In a batting line-up where Bangalore’s batting has been hugely dependent on him, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell, du Plessis being the upfront enforcer in power-play has been refreshing to witness, according to former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith.

“He’s played so well and been great to watch. He’s really upped his aggression at the top of the order. He’s 38 right now and is looking very fit and has managed to adapt and keep up with youngsters in terms of the way there is need to play. We spoke about not having anchor batters, and he’s turned himself into an attacking, dynamic batter at the top of the order,” said Smith, an Ipl expert for JioCinema,...

New Delhi, May 10 (Ians) Suryakumar Yadav was at his sensational best once again, smashing 83 (35b) as Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rcb) in Match No. 54 of the Ipl 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium on a humid Tuesday night.

Set a challenging 200 for victory, Mi stormed home in 16.3 overs and won by six wickets. Nehal Wadhera, too, delivered a superb performance with the bat, hitting an unbeaten 52 off 34 balls. His knock was laced with four boundaries and three sixes. Earlier, Rcb had done well to reach 199/6, thanks largely to skipper Faf du Plessis’ 65 (41b) and Glenn Maxwell’s 68 (33b).

The win took Mi to 12 points from 11 games and they now lie in the third place in the 10-team table. On the other hand, Rcb are in the 7th place with 10 points from 11 games, and the race to the play-offs is hotting up.

JioCinema Ipl expert Zaheer Khan couldn’t believe the...

New Delhi, March 29 (Ians) Viacom18, the digital broadcasters of Ipl 2023, on Wednesday announced a star-studded panel of experts who will present their views on the game and things around it during the two-month long tournament, which will be played from March 31 to May 28.

Suresh Raina, Chris Gayle, Ab de Villiers, Anil Kumble, Robin Uthappa, Rp Singh, Eoin Morgan, Parthiv Patel and Scott Styris are among the stars in the panel who will provide in-depth coverage of the 2023 Ipl across 16 feeds.

Joining them would be a battery of superstars including Zaheer Khan, Brett Lee, Graeme Smith, Graeme Swann among others. Raina and Uthappa also have been part of multiple Tata Ipl-winning campaigns while Gayle holds the record for highest individual score in the Ipl with his 175 not out.

In the panel, Kumble and Jhulan Goswami will bring in tales and anecdotes from championship-winning experience, with Patel and Kedar Jadhav to add more to the coverage.

Bengaluru, March 1 (Ians) Faf du Plessis took over the captaincy of Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of Ipl 2022, and he had a lofty legacy to live up to.

In his first season as Rcb captain, Faf displayed exceptional leadership qualities while guiding the team to the Ipl Playoffs.

While speaking on Rcb Podcast Season 2, the second of the 10 episodes, Faf disclosed what drove him to lead the team with a sense of purpose.

“I think as a cricketer, the moment that reaffirmed to me and told me that I belong at this level and I want to be at this level… was (the moment) like, you belong here. So that moment was from where, I was just like, this is what I want to do. Yeah, I became super purpose driven. After that, I became the Proteas, the Heartbeat if I could say that. I lived and breathed everything about Cricket South Africa.

Johannesburg, Nov 8 (Ians) The much-anticipated SA20 blasts off with an exciting Western Cape derby between Mi Cape Town and Paarl Royals at Newlands Cricket Ground on January 10.

The full match schedule of 33 matches to be played at six venues across the country was announced today, with only two months to go until the start of South Africa’s premier T20 League.

Mi Cape Town will look to captivate the Newlands faithful with their star-studded line-up that includes Proteas spearhead Kagiso Rabada, Afghanistan spin maestro Rashid Khan, England’s six-hitting specialist Liam Livingstone, and South Africa’s teenage sensation, Dewald Brevis among others.

The Royals have assembled an equal galaxy of stars that is headlined by England white-ball captain Jos Buttler, along with his Lords’ 2019 World Cup-winning teammates Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan. They will be joined by Proteas trio David Miller, Lungi Ngidi and Tabraiz Shamsi, who are under the...

Johannesburg, Sep 1 (Ians) Faf du Plessis on Thursday was named as the captain of Johannesburg Super Kings in the SA20 league, starting in January next year.

The franchise, owned by Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited (Cskcl), who also own Chennai Super Kings (Csk) in the Indian Premier League (Ipl), have also got Stephen Fleming on board as the head coach while revealing the logo of the side.

Du Plessis, the former South Africa captain, had been picked by the franchise as one of its five direct signings alongside Moeen Ali, Maheesh Theekshana (both of them played for Csk in Ipl 2022), Romario Shepherd and uncapped fast bowler Gerald Coetzee.

Du Plessis played 100 matches for Chennai Super Kings, first from 2011-15 and then from 2018-2021. “I have an extremely lucky and long relationship with Chennai. When the opportunity presented itself again, I was extremely happy with that. I think it’s going...

Johannesburg, Aug 31 (Ians) Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) new T20 franchise league has been named as ‘SA20’. In a virtual press conference, league commissioner and former South Africa captain Graeme Smith also said that the player auction for the inaugural season of SA20 will be held on September 19.

The player registrations for the SA20 player auction closed on Sunday evening with a positive show of interest from players around the world and from established as well as young South African talent.

All the six teams, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Pretoria Capitals, Paarl Royals, Mi Cape Town, Johannesburg Super Kings and Durban franchise, owned by Ipl franchises, have already signed up to five players apiece through a direct-acquisition process.

The franchises have an overall purse of US2 million, with the maximum squad strength set at 17. The six teams can acquire services of seven international cricketers and ten South African players, with the...

Manchester, Aug 24 (Ians) Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith stated that England opener Zak Crawley is looking like a batter who has a lack of understanding of his own game as well as strengths and weaknesses.

Crawley has been going through a prolonged form slump at the top, with the 24-year-old opener managing just nine and 13 against the Proteas in the opening Test at Lord’s, which England lost by an innings and 12 runs inside three days.

The right-handed batter is yet to score a half-century for his country from 10 innings this summer, scoring just 164 runs at an average of 16.40 in five Tests.

“I mean, if I take myself as example, if people asked me, ‘Okay, you weren’t the best-looking batter in the world, but what were your strengths?’… I understood my strengths and my weaknesses. If I faced Jimmy (Anderson), I knew that I would bat on two...

Johannesburg, July 19 (Ians) Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith has been appointed commissioner of the country’s new T20 league and has been entrusted with the task of overseeing all aspects (cricketing and non-cricketing) and developing what is anticipated to be a “dynamic brand that showcases the strength” of the nation’s cricket. With Smith having […]...

Johannesburg, June 30 (Ians) Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Thursday appointed Enoch Nkwe as their Director of Cricket. The 39-year-old Nkwe will replace Graeme Smith, whose three-year term came to an abrupt end in March earlier this year following racism allegations which he was later cleared of. Enoch played professional cricket for the Highveld Lions […]...

Johannesburg, May 10 (Ians) Less than a fortnight after absolving former captain Graeme Smith of racism charges, Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Tuesday gave the clean chit to another former player and current Proteas coach Mark Boucher, saying there is “no basis to sustain any of the disciplinary charges, including charges of racism” against him. […]...

Johannesburg, Dec 9 (Ians) The South African men's cricket team will travel to Pakistan in January-February next year for two Tests and three T20Is, Cricket South Africa confirmed on Wednesday. The last time the two teams met in Pakistan was in 2007 when South Africa beat the hosts 1-0 in a two-match Test series.

The Proteas are scheduled to reach Karachi on January 16, serving out a period of quarantine before taking part in the first Test which starts from January 26 at the National Stadium in Karachi.

The second Test will start on February 4 at Rawalpindi and will subsequently be followed by South Africa's first-ever T20I series in Pakistan, which will see all the three games played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

"It's pleasing to see so many countries making a return to Pakistan - a proud, cricket-loving nation. Cricket South Africa is delighted to be counted among them. As...

Cricket legend Kevin Pietersen & Petronel Nieuwoudt (founder of Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary) are interviewed by Rich Phippen for their new TV show Save this Rhino airing on National Geographic channel.

Former English cricket captain, Kevin Pietersen, shines a light on the world’s critically endangered rhinoceros population, currently on a path to extinction by 2025, and looks into the hard work of dedicated conservationists to save these gentle giants.

This brand new emotional two-part series follows Kevin, National Geographic’s own outback wrangler Matt Wright, and South African cricket legend Graeme Smith, as they meet the victims of poaching through the story of an orphan baby rhino named Arthur. Arthur’s mother was brutally killed in front of him by poachers, and he was left injured next to her dying body.

At the centre of this critical story are the courageous men and women fighting this war. Petronel Nieuwoudt, founder...

Everybody probably remembers that one horror movie that made them cry when they were little. Maybe they snuck into the theater, or caught the wrong moment while flipping channels on TV. For the child actors of It, their own movie is the one that made them cry. Monsters and Critics attended the press junket for It in Los Angeles, where producers shared the behind the scenes frights. Now it’s not supposed to actually be scary on the set, but producer Seth Graeme Smith shared how one scene got to the young cast. “I remember a day we were on stages,”...read more...