Sanjjeev K Samyal
Sanjjeev K Samyal heads the sports team in Mumbai and anchors HT’s cricket coverage.
Articles by Sanjjeev K Samyal
Shubman Gill: India's batting future is now here
UPDATED ON JAN 19, 2021 09:24 PM IST
After making his debut in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar series, the Punjab batsman has been simply unstoppable.
India bowlers shackle Australia batsmen in iconic Test series
PUBLISHED ON JAN 18, 2021 08:42 PM IST
Australia template has been to score heavily and then bring visiting teams under pressure with their fast bowlers. This time India's revolving bowling unit has checked that
Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur: In an elite league, and loving it
PUBLISHED ON JAN 18, 2021 05:33 AM IST
India's seventh-wicket pair hit fifties and raised a partnership of 123 to lead the fightback in the Brisbane Test, displaying the confidence gained from IPL stints.
India vs Australia: Shardul finds the right length, reins in the Aussie innings
UPDATED ON JAN 16, 2021 09:05 PM IST
- India vs Australia: In his first away Test, Shardul Thakur picked up 3/94, bowling 24 overs after Navdeep Saini went off injured on Day 1.
India vs Australia, 4th Test: The day of the debutants
UPDATED ON JAN 15, 2021 08:09 PM IST
Washington’s name was included in the Test squad at the last minute with R Ashwin’s back playing up during the third Test. Natarajan proved his worth by claiming two important wickets to peg Australia’s charge.
A fast and weary Test at the Gabba
PUBLISHED ON JAN 14, 2021 08:51 PM IST
India vs Australia: This is the venue Australia usually prefers for the series opener, as a shock-and-awe welcome to the touring side. This time it's hosting the series finale, but the shock-and-awe may still be in play for a battered Indian side fighting like a valiant unit under siege.
India vs Australia: Nathan Lyon looks forward to his 100th Test at bouncy Gabba
By Sanjjeev K Samyal, Mumbai
PUBLISHED ON JAN 14, 2021 09:53 AM IST
- India vs Australia: Nathan Lyon has been in blistering form in India-Australia Test series; 23 wickets in 2014-15, 19 in 2016-17 and 21 in 2018-19.
No protocols flouted in Australia, says India team management
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Mumbai
UPDATED ON JAN 04, 2021 11:47 AM IST
A picture purportedly taken in Canberra on December 1 of India skipper Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya posing with some fans a day before the third ODI has emerged. The selfie is clicked in the open but Kohli and Pandya are not wearing masks and the 1.5-metre distance from the fans does not seem to be observed.
Natarajan joins Test squad; Sharma deputy
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Mumbai
UPDATED ON JAN 01, 2021 11:13 PM IST
Sharma’s addition leaves the team management with a difficult choice of either playing an extra specialist batsman or dropping one from the team which won in Melbourne.
India vs Australia: India counterpunch squares series
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Mumbai
UPDATED ON DEC 29, 2020 09:32 PM IST
India vs Australia 2nd Test: Gill, Rahane seal eight-wicket win after bowlers make short work of Australia’s tail
India vs Australia: R Ashwin-Jasprit Bumrah shine as pair, Australia on the ropes
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Mumbai
UPDATED ON DEC 28, 2020 10:00 PM IST
Australia were wobbling at 133 for six at stumps on the third day of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, bringing India on the doorstep of what promises to be a famous win.
India vs Australia, 2nd Test, Day 2: Leader Ajinkya Rahane hits a ton for the ages
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Mumbai
UPDATED ON DEC 27, 2020 07:44 PM IST
India vs Australia: Stand-in skipper anchors innings with 104*, pulls India ahead on Day 2 of the MCG Test.
India vs Australia: India deal the blows on Boxing Day
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Mumbai
UPDATED ON DEC 26, 2020 08:02 PM IST
India vs Australia: Ashwin dismisses Smith for nought, his first since 2016, as he teams up with Bumrah and Siraj to hand India the Day 1 honours in the MCG Test.
Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj: Debutants realise fathers’ dreams
By Sanjjeev K Samyal & Shalini Gupta | Mumbai/Chandigarh
UPDATED ON DEC 26, 2020 07:33 AM IST
India vs Australia 2nd Test: In the way their fathers backed them, Siraj and Gill’s stories are similar but their paths to the Test cap have been very different. Gill’s father Lakhwinder Singh had the means to support his son who has played youth cricket for India. Ghaus drove an autorickshaw for a living.
India vs Australia: An acid Test for captain Ajinkya Rahane
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Mumbai
UPDATED ON DEC 25, 2020 09:36 PM IST
India vs Australia: As India try and shrug off their embarrassing defeat in Adelaide, stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane faces the stiff Australia Test at the MCG Test starting Saturday.
India start afresh without Virat Kohli
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Mumbai
UPDATED ON DEC 25, 2020 07:50 AM IST
India vs Australia 2nd Test: After the Adelaide drubbing, visitors eye comeback in Boxing Day Test under new captain Ajinkya Rahane.
India vs Australia: Poor technique, not bouncers the real issue
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Hindustan Times, Mumbai
UPDATED ON DEC 22, 2020 08:20 AM IST
India vs Australia: Indications are it’s going to be a bloody affair and more of the same is expected in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
India vs Australia: Countering the off-stump line of attack
By Sanjjeev K Samyal/N Ananthanarayanan | Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON DEC 21, 2020 08:02 AM IST
India vs Australia: In the record book, it will simply go down as India’s lowest total. But it has to be mentioned that 36 all out occurred in a pink-ball Test. The challenges for the batsman in a pink-ball game are greater.
India vs Australia Test series Preview - India’s balancing act: Meeting fire with fire
By Sanjjeev K Samyal and N Ananthanarayanan | Mumbai/New Delhi
UPDATED ON DEC 17, 2020 01:52 AM IST
India vs Australia: After a sterling show in India’s historic first series victory in 2018-19, all eyes are on Bumrah. He has the pace and a knack of hitting the right length to extract bounce on Australian wickets.
A spin battle in the shadows of the fast and furious
By Sanjjeev K Samyal/N Ananthanarayanan | Mumbai/New Delhi
UPDATED ON DEC 15, 2020 08:25 AM IST
Australia is the mainly the playground of genuine quicks and batsmen who can counter fire with fire, with positive stroke-play. The combative Ashwin though will hope to engage in a meaningful spin battle with seasoned off-spin rival Nathan Lyon.
Pandya, Natarajan boost as India chase T20 series sweep
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Mumbai
UPDATED ON DEC 08, 2020 07:18 AM IST
Having lost the first two T20 games, the pressure will be on Australia to prevent a whitewash in the series when they face India in the final game at the SCG on Tuesday.
Right-handed or left, Maxwell’s hammer lands with equal force
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | MUMBAI
UPDATED ON DEC 04, 2020 12:51 PM IST
The new discourse on switch-hit is unlikely to gather steam with white-ball game tilted towards the batsmen
India vs Australia: Run machine Steve Smith revved up
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Mumbai
UPDATED ON DEC 02, 2020 07:13 AM IST
India vs Australia: How do you solve a problem like Smith who is scoring heavily and briskly?
India’s pace pangs in Australia
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Hindustan Times, Mumbai
UPDATED ON DEC 01, 2020 07:36 AM IST
India vs Australia: The Tests are a fortnight away, but the confidence of the new-ball bowlers has been hit after heavy defeats in the first two ODIs at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
KL Rahul and bridging red-and-white gap
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Mumbai
UPDATED ON NOV 27, 2020 08:32 AM IST
India vs Australia: As KL Rahul gets ready to start a new series in Australia, his Test career is at the crossroads while the one-day career is soaring.
India vs Australia: Shikhar, and shifting to overdrive
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Mumbai
UPDATED ON NOV 26, 2020 07:15 AM IST
India vs Australia: Expectations are higher on Dhawan because he is also in form. His recent record against Australia is stunning and he has warmed up for the tour with a sterling show in the Indian Premier League.
India vs Australia: Jasprit Bumrah and dictating the pace
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Hindustan Times, Mumbai
UPDATED ON NOV 24, 2020 08:42 AM IST
India vs Australia: Jasprit Bumrah has landed in Australia ready to build on his formidable record—68 wickets in 14 Tests at 20.33 and 104 wickets in 64 ODIs; 109 wickets in 92 T20Is—and as the X-factor.
Oldest living Ranji player to celebrate 100th birthday
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | MUMBAI
UPDATED ON NOV 20, 2020 03:37 PM IST
Chandorkar will also become only the third Ranji Trophy player to celebrate a 100th birthday. Vasant Raiji, who passed away this May in Mumbai, was one of the three.
A Test-ing time for India, sans Virat Kohli
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Mumbai
UPDATED ON NOV 14, 2020 08:00 AM IST
Kohli’s absence improves Australia’s chances of avenging their home series defeat. He will lead India in three ODIs, three Twenty20 internationals and the first Test before heading home.
IPL 2020: Mumbai Indians speedsters take pace off the ball
By Sanjjeev K Samyal | Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON NOV 11, 2020 10:41 AM IST
IPL 2020: Against a strong Delhi Capitals batting unit, the Mumbai Indians fast bowlers did a terrific job taking the pace off the ball and reaped benefits.