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Banton Returns, Mumbai In Semis And Gambhir Slammed – February 11 Cricket Highlights

Aakash Saini

Tom Banton and Ajinkya Rahane [Source: @MIEmirates, @viratkohli_live/x]Tom Banton and Ajinkya Rahane [Source: @MIEmirates, @viratkohli_live/x]

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Team India will be departing for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy later this week. Under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane, Mumbai qualified for the semifinals of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season. Furthermore, Tom Banton is poised to make his return to international cricket.

Capping an eventful day in the world of cricket, here we take a look at five of the biggest cricketing news that emerged out of Tuesday, February 11.

Team India To Jet Off To Dubai On February 15

The Indian cricket team will be taking flight to the UAE on February 15, i.e., four days prior to the launch of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. Rohit Sharma’s troops will be facing England in the final ODI of their three-match home series on February 12, and their opening match of the impending eight-team ICC event is slated to be played on February 20.

Each of India’s three Group A matches of the tournament will be hosted by the Dubai International Stadium.

Arjuna Ranatunga Makes Huge Claim Against India

Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga believes his team from the yesteryears, featuring the likes of legendary fast bowler Chaminda Vaas and all-time spin great Muttiah Muralitharan, would have demolished Team India at the latter’s home ground in a Test series. Moreover, Ranatunga even claimed that his Sri Lankan team was capable of defeating India within three days of a Test. It is worth noting that Ranatunga is a frequent critic of the BCCI and the Indian cricket team.

Contrary to his claims, the Sri Lankan cricket team has not managed to win even a single Test against India in India ever since their first trip to the cricket-crazy nation in 1982.

Ajinkya Rahane, SKY Starrer Mumbai Qualify For Ranji Semis

Under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane, the Mumbai cricket team defeated Haryana by 152 runs in the third quarterfinal to qualify for the semifinals of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season. Captain Rahane himself belted a majestic 108 in the second innings, while middle order batter Suryakumar Yadav carted 70 runs from just 86 balls. Defending 354 runs for a win, Mumbai fast bowler Shardul Thakur picked up three crucial Haryana wickets to assist a sensational match-winning five-fer from fast bowler Royston Dias.

Shardul Thakur also picked up six wickets for just 58 runs in the first Haryana innings to claim nine wickets in the match.

Tom Banton To Replace Jacob Bethell In England’s CT Squad

Firebrand batter Tom Banton is in line to replace injured Jacob Bethell in the England squad for the upcoming 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. Bethell sustained a hamstring injury during England’s ongoing white-ball series in India and was subsequently ruled out of the impending eight-ball tournament.

Tom Banton, who has played just six ODIs to date for England, has not played a single ODI since August 2020 and not a single international match since January 2022. The hard-hitting right-hander, however, did underwent a prolific ILT20 2025 season in the UAE for the MI Emirates franchise.

K Srikkanth Slams Coach Gambhir For KL Rahul’s Failures

Former Indian cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth has slammed Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir for frequently changing the batting positions of KL Rahul. Srikkanth, also ex-BCCI chief selector, believes Rahul has been “unfortunate” off late and cited frequent shuffling in the batting order for his downfall.

It is worth noting that Rahul has been batting lower down the order during India’s ongoing ODI series against England. Having batted at number six in the last two ODIs, the cricketer managed to accrue just 12 runs combined.