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The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the defending champions, have kept the majority of its championship core in an effort to duplicate their performance in the 2025 Indian Premier League. After probably the most successful season in IPL history in 2024, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are the defending champions going into the 2025 season. The majority of KKR's championship-winning core has survived the challenge of their big auction. But there have also been certain major changes. Instead of sporting purple, Gautam Gambhir now dons blue. The team's Indian core was fostered in large part by Abhishek Nayar. Most significantly, even if the position of captain has been given to competent individuals, it is not someone who fits the KKR mold. Strengths: Varun Chakravarthy's amazing purple patch is much of KKR's greatest strength. Every time he takes up the ball, the mystery spinner appears to have a hint of gold and is in the best form of his life. Despite his age of 33 and Sunil Narine's age of 36, together they constitute the team with the strongest pedigree in terms of spin attack. What is KKR's other strong suit? Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, and Rinku Singh are the three Rs. There are already two of these in place. KKR may have the greatest lower-middle order in the tournament, though, especially when you include the rapidly improving Ramandeep. Kolkata Knight Riders Weakness: Although the Knight Riders have been able to retain the majority of its core, there are still significant gaps left by the departing members. Despite having terrible roles in their championship victory, Phil Salt, Shreyas Iyer, and Mitchell Starc are no longer present. Shreyas remained unblemished in every run chase in 2024, Salt made sure that KKR had a dependable opener at last, and Starc performed excellently when it counted most. Although Spencer Johnson, Ajinkya Rahane, and Quinton de Kock are not slouches. Their T20I pedigree and form appear to have slightly declined. Particularly

Sophie Devine, a mainstay of New Zealand will be leaving the ODI format after this year's World Cup. She will therefore choose to sign a casual playing contract for the 2025-2026 season, New Zealand Cricket said on Tuesday, June 17. In both ODIs and T20Is, the 35-year-old has enjoyed a stellar career for New Zealand. Over the course of her 152 appearances for the national team the second most after Suzie Bates. She has risen from her initial position as a №11 in 50-over cricket to become one of the most crucial hitters in the team. She has hit 16 fifties and eight hundred, second only to Bates. In addition to his fourth-highest 3990 runs. Devine has taken 107 wickets. Which is second only to Lea Tahuhu. In 2020, the all-round player was named New Zealand's permanent captain last year. They won the T20 World Cup under her direction. In the last two tournaments. They have not advanced past the group stages in the ODI format. Sophie Devine Devine stated, "It feels like the right time for me to start stepping away," in reference to her choice. "I consider myself extremely lucky to have had NZC's help in resolving the issue. So that I can continue to support the White Ferns. Before I leave, I want everyone to know that I'm committed and focused on giving this group my all. I'm eager to contribute over the next six to nine months. Am quite pleased about the direction this young group is taking." According to Liz Green, the Head of Women's High Performance at NZC. Devine's choice to sign a casual deal will allow another athlete to sign a full contract. As the 17-member core contracts list will be revealed tomorrow. Green stated that Sophie has served the White Ferns for almost 20 years, and NZC is completely in support of her efforts to find greater balance at this point in her career. We are happy that we were able to come to a deal that allows her to continue playing for the White Ferns on an as-needed basis while providing room for another player to sign a ful

Ben Stokes, the captain of England and their best all-round player, will not play in the final Test match against India due to a shoulder injury. In the third and fourth Test matches of this series, the in-form player's all-around performance earned him Player of the Match. Ollie Pope will captain the team in place of him when they play India at The Oval in London on Thursday, July 31. The pacers Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, and spinner Liam Dawson were also left off of the eleven that drew with India in Manchester. In addition to Josh Tongue, Jamie Overton, and Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell has been added to the team and is slated to start at number six. England's XI: Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope ©, Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue When India batted for 143 overs over five sessions in the final innings to draw the Test, Ben Stokes had a lengthy bowling stint. During the session, Stokes was clearly gripping his right shoulder and had bowled 35 overs in both innings. The depth of Stokes' injuries and the challenging decision-making process were disclosed. During the news conference held on the eve of the fifth Test. "I don't know how to phrase it; therefore, I can't state that I have a good rip in one of my muscles. We took as much time as possible to decide on that. When you discover what you've done, there is undoubtedly some emotion involved. To give myself every chance, I came down here this morning. As soon as we received the scan findings. Bowling was obviously ruled out for the sake of playing as a hitter. Ben Stokes However, I believe that in order to really understand the decision we made. You need to spend that time talking with the medical staff and Baz [Brendon McCullum]. Before spending nearly twenty minutes alone outside in the middle of the morning. Yes, it's one of those situations where you have to balance the risks and rewards. The risk was simply too great to