Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Edinburgh. After his induction, the total number of ICC Hall of Fame members has increased to 125. Ganguly, considered one of India’s best captains, has played 113 Test and 311 ODI matches. He started his Test career in 1996 against England and scored two centuries in his first two Test matches. He scored a total of 7212 runs in Test cricket at an average of 42.17 and 11,363 runs in ODIs at an average of 41.02. In white-ball cricket, he formed a brilliant opening pair with Sachin Tendulkar. Both of them opened together 136 times and added a record 6609 runs with 21 century partnerships.

What did Sourav Ganguly say on this honor

Ganguly said, “Having my name included among the greats of cricket will be one of the most memorable moments for me. It has been a privilege for me to represent India and play with many greats of the game, and now to be recognized in this way is really special. The game has given me a lot, and I hope that I will continue to serve the game in the years to come.”

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Gave Team India worldwide recognition as captain

Ganguly’s biggest contribution was as captain in Team India. After the match-fixing controversy in 2000, he took charge of the team and made India a strong team even outside the country. Under his captaincy, India won the NatWest Series in England in 2002 and became joint winners of the Champions Trophy later the same year. In 2003, under his captaincy the team reached the final of the 2003 ODI World Cup. Where they had to face defeat from Australia. In Test cricket, Ganguly’s team defeated Australia 2-1 in the famous Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home in 2000-01 and then drew the series 1-1 in Australia in 2003-04.

Anjum Chopra also honored

Apart from Ganguly, Anjum Chopra, who gave recognition to women’s cricket all over the world, also got this honour. Left-handed batsman Chopra captained India in all three formats. Made his international debut in 1995. She was the first Indian woman to score 1000 ODI runs and play 100 ODI matches. He also made important contributions for India in the 2000 and 2005 ODI World Cups. Overall he scored 2856 runs in 127 ODI matches.

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The match between India and Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2026 on February 15 is not going to be just a match but a high-voltage clash. Both the teams are fully prepared for this great match, but a big difference is clearly visible regarding the circumstances before the match. Pakistan team has been playing matches in Sri Lanka for the last two weeks, whereas till now the Indian team has been playing all its matches in India only. In such a situation, Pakistan may get a slight edge in terms of adjusting to the Sri Lankan pitch and weather.

On this issue, former captain of the Indian women’s cricket team and current commentator Anjum Chopra has given special advice to Team India. He believes that the Indian team is definitely strong, but any kind of carelessness in this format can prove costly.

Anjum Chopra gave important advice

During a conversation, Anjum Chopra said that the Indian team is a strong contender for victory, but she would like to avoid overconfidence. He believes that T20 is a format where the game can change at any time. He emphasized that Pakistan is already playing in Colombo and is well aware of the conditions there. The Indian team has limited time before the match, so proper use of these 48 hours will be very important. He believes that Indian players will have to prepare their strategy as soon as possible according to the nature of the pitch and the weather, so that they do not have to face any kind of problem on the day of the match.

If not Abhishek then Sanju is a ready option.

There is also intense discussion regarding the opening combination. If Abhishek Sharma is not fit, then wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson may get a chance. Recently, while making his debut in the T20 World Cup against Namibia, he scored 22 runs on 8 balls.

Anjum Chopra clearly says that there should not be any worry about Sanju. According to him, Sanju is a match-winning player and can make important contributions to the team when needed.

Women’s Premier League 2026 is starting from 9 January. Former captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, Anjum Chopra believes that the upcoming season is going to be very interesting. On paper, UP Warriors team looks strong.

In a special conversation with IANS, Anjum Chopra said that we have recently won the ODI World Cup. The performance of our players was good in the World Cup. Therefore, the confidence of the franchises involved in the Women’s Premier League has definitely increased. No team can be called strong or weak. I see UP Warriors strong on paper, but how the team will play during the league and what playing eleven the team will go with, it will be very important.

He said, “The performance of UP Warriors in the last 3 years was not as per the expectations. Therefore, in the auction, they have rebuilt their team in a new way. It was a big decision to include Deepti Sharma again in the auction. It remains to be seen how the team performs this season with the new players.”

Anjum Chopra said that in the next season in RCB, it will be important to see who will open the innings with Smriti Mandhana. The team will also have to strike the right balance with foreign players. RCB will miss Elsie Perry. The audience will also feel the loss of Perry.

The former Indian captain said that Jemimah Rodrigues, who has been made the captain of Delhi Capitals, has a big opportunity to prove herself. Captaincy is not only on the field but also outside the field. It remains to be seen how she capitalizes on this opportunity. Delhi Capitals has a long line of talented players. In such a situation, making the playing eleven will also be a big challenge for the captain.

Regarding Mumbai Indians, Chopra said that the defending champion team has a good number of foreign and domestic players. Because of this the team is very strong, but we cannot say that this team cannot be defeated. In the last 3 seasons, many teams have challenged Mumbai. This will be seen in this season also.

Chopra said that it is very difficult to predict which team will make it to the finals. This time the league will be very exciting and there will be very close matches. There will be favorable conditions for batting and the captain will prefer to bowl after winning the toss. Anjum Chopra said that I will keep an eye on the performance of Kashvi Gautam, Shri Charani, and Diya Yadav in the next season.