Sophia Dunkley in line for ODI debut after maiden Test appearance

Georgia Elwiss, Danni Wyatt left out of squad for ODI section of multi-format series against India

Valkerie Baynes22-Jun-2021Sophia Dunkley is in line to make her ODI debut after being named in England’s 50-over squad as part of the multi-format series with India.Dunkley, who scored an unbeaten 74 last week when she became the first black woman to play Test cricket for England in the drawn one-off Test in Bristol, could return to international action as soon as Sunday, when the three-match ODI section of the series starts, also in Bristol. Dunkley has played 15 T20Is for England, most recently in New Zealand in March.Seamer Freya Davies and legspinner Sarah Glenn, who were released from an extended 17-member Test squad to re-join their regional teams for last weekend’s round of Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy fixtures, return to a 16-strong ODI squad. Emily Arlott, Tash Farrant, Mady Villiers and Fran Wilson, who remained with the Test squad but did not play in the match, were also retained for the ODIs.Related

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Georgia Elwiss, the allrounder who scored 5 playing as a batter in the Test – she only came on to bowl in the last 20 minutes or so of the match – was left out of the one-day squad.There was also no place for Danni Wyatt – who played all six matches on the winter tour of New Zealand, with a highest score of 17 from the three ODIs and 33 from three T20Is. Wyatt has scored three half-centuries from four matches in the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy since that tour. Lauren Winfield-Hill, who batted in the middle-order in New Zealand but scored 35 opening with Tammy Beaumont in the Test, could retain her place as opener for the one-day matches.The three ODIs against India will be followed by three T20Is with each match worth two points for a win in the multi-format series. The sides shared the four available points, two apiece, after drawing the Test.Lisa Keightley, the England Women’s head coach, said: “We’re looking forward to playing ODI cricket again after a hugely enjoyable and hard-fought Test match.England have named their ODI squad to face India in their multi-format series•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“The competition for places across all formats is growing every time we meet to select a squad. The options available to us are the strongest we’ve had since I’ve been in the role and we feel this group gives us a great opportunity for success in the ODI element of the series.”There’s no space on this occasion for Danni Wyatt and Georgia Elwiss, and while I know they’re both disappointed to miss out, it’s important that they’re given the opportunity to play cricket at a regional level ahead of the Vitality IT20 series. We have to balance the needs of the squad and the need of the individual and we’ll always be keen to get people playing competitive cricket where we can.”Royal London Series:

Sunday June 27: 1st ODI, Bristol County Ground

Wednesday June 30: 2nd ODI, The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton
Saturday July 3: 3rd ODI, New Road, Worcester

Virat Kohli: 'Certainly felt like we were on top in the game'

India captain hints at continuing with current template of four seamers and a spinner

Nagraj Gollapudi08-Aug-20213:07

KL Rahul on change of roles: ‘It’s not new or doesn’t surprise me anymore’

India were looking forward to having a good crack at the remaining 157 runs needed to cross the line to win the first Test, Virat Kohli said at the end of the Trent bridge stalemate. He also said that he felt India had batted with intent on the fourth evening, attacked with the ball all along, and set markers for the rest of five-match series. And, that the XI picked for the first Test could well “be a template going ahead in the series”, though calls would be taken based on conditions.Chasing 209, India started solidly courtesy KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. This seemed to rub off on Cheteshwar Pujara, who signed off the penultimate day with a square-driven boundary off Stuart Broad. It wasn’t just Pujara showing intent, it was also a mark of confidence from the Indian top order, which had shown courage, good technique, and solid mindset to tackle the most difficult batting conditions – the final hour (as it turned out) of this rain-affected, but absorbing Test, where nearly two days were lost to rain.”We were expecting rain on day three and four, but it chooses to arrive on day five,” Kohli told the broadcasters after the final day’s play was called off late afternoon on Sunday. “We thought we were in a good position to have a crack at the target. This is exactly what we wanted to do: we wanted to start strong.”Heading to day five, we had our chances right in front of us. One good partnership and then you know what happens when there’s only 150 on the board to defend. We certainly felt like we are on top of the game. We bowled well enough and batted well enough to stay in the contest and then getting that lead was crucial which kept us on top throughout the game.”India had been dealt a blow two days before the Test after Mayank Agarwal – the preferred opener in Shubman Gill’s absence – was ruled out because of concussion. Rahul, who stepped in as replacement, did not show at any stage that he had not been considered Test-cricket material since August 2019.Rahul, in the company of Sharma, who was opening for the first time in England, was impressive as he kept India in the game on the second day with his innings of 84. Not just the runs, but Rahul kept the Indian dressing calm despite failures of Pujara, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane.India needed that assured start again on an overcast Saturday evening when James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson steamed in under lights. India still ended the day at 52 for 1. Rahul the only batter to fall. Kohli agreed that it was a vital phase of play that India had won.”And to get to 50 overnight is a big positive for us. It wasn’t about survival; it was about getting the boundaries where the opportunity presented itself,” he said. “Our intent is what kept us ahead in the game. Even today the start would have been the same.”Will Shardul Thakur have a big role to play in the series? Virat Kohli thinks so•PA Photos/Getty Images

But the fact that India took a 95-run first-innings lead was not all Rahul’s doing. The credit for that belonged to Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 56, and then Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj added 46 more after he was dismissed.”It’s a hard work of three-odd weeks now,” Kohli said of the last three. “They have been in the nets regularly, wanting to contribute regularly, wanting to contribute to the team. Getting 50-plus runs from those three bowlers was like gold dust for us – we would have been talking about a lead of 40-odd and then we got to a lead of 95 purely because of their efforts.”Just the grit and determination… you know, as opposition, when the bowlers gets runs it can be annoying.”The lack of runs from the bottom order has been an issue for India, and a prime reason for India to tinker with the team combination.In the World Test Championship final, in June against New Zealand, India had fielded two spinners in R Ashwin and Jadeja to have more batting depth. For this Test, they dropped Ashwin, and brought in Shardul Thakur, who had played a winning hand with both ball and bat during the triumph in Brisbane against Australia in January.While he didn’t contribute with the bat, Thakur grabbed four wickets in the Test, key ones at that.Asked whether India would persist with a similar template of five bowlers including one spinner for the remainder of the series, Kohli said it was a possibility. “Most likely it will be a template going ahead in the series, but again, adaptability has been a strength of ours as well,” he said. “This looks like the right template for us moving forward.”

USA co-hosts for 2024 T20 WC, Pakistan gets 2025 Champions Trophy, India and Bangladesh 2031 World Cup

Cricket going global as ICC picks 14 hosts for 8 men’s global events in 2024-31 cycle

Nagraj Gollapudi16-Nov-2021Pakistan will be hosting a world tournament for the first time in nearly three decades when the Champions Trophy comes to its shores in 2025. In another first, the USA will also host a global cricket competition – the T20 World Cup in June 2024 – alongside the West Indies.Those two are part of the eight new men’s tournaments that feature in the ICC’s next commercial cycle from 2024-31. That’s two ODI World Cups, four T20 World Cups and two editions of the Champions Trophy, which the ICC had decided to bring back.On Monday, the ICC Board finalised the venues for the eight events based on the recommendations of a working group which shortlisted the hosting countries based on the bids that had been put forward earlier this year. ESPNcricinfo has learned that there were 28 proposals from 17 countries, including the 14 hosts.All the men’s ICC events between 2024-2031•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

This working group was led by former New Zealand fast bowler Martin Snedden, who is chairman of the NZC and its representative on the ICC Board. Former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, Cricket West Indies’ president Ricky Skerritt and former PCB chairman Ehsan Mani were also part of this working group.The latest global events cycle is in complete contrast to the previous one (2017-23) where the Big Three – India, England and Australia – split a majority of the hosting rights among themselves. It has been seven years since a world tournament has taken place anywhere outside of those three countries. But with the exponential growth of T20 cricket, the ICC wants to take the sport global and that is now reflected in this schedule.Starting with the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA, several marquee cricket tournaments will be played in non-traditional countries. Namibia will co-host the first men’s World Cup in Africa since 2003, alongside Zimbabwe and South Africa, in 2027. And in 2030, Scotland and Ireland will join England to stage the T20 World Cup.The biggest news though is the 2025 Champions Trophy taking place in Pakistan. It will be the first time the tournament will be played since it was abandoned in 2017. It is also a shot in the arm for the PCB which has worked very hard to bring back international cricket after the disruption caused by the 2009 terrorist attacks.The last time a men’s global tournament was held in a non-Big Three country was the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh•ICC

“By allocating a major global event to Pakistan, the ICC has expressed complete confidence and faith in our management, and operational capabilities and skills,” PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said soon after the announcement. He added that the 2025 event will be a “boon for millions of home fans” who will watch their “favourite international players from close quarters.”The other significant decision was to appoint the USA as a co-host for the 2024 T20 World Cup. This, it is learned, is part of a strategic move by the ICC, which has identified America as a strong market for growing the game. It also makes plain their keenness to get on the Olympics roster. The experience of hosting a major event in the USA, where the 2028 Games are due to be held, will only help in the push for cricket’s inclusion.The ICC once again acknowledged India as its key commercial driver and allotted three global tournaments to it. They will co-host the 2026 T20 World Cup along with Sri Lanka, then host the 2029 Champions Trophy and then join hands with Bangladesh for the ODI World Cup in October-November 2031.India are also scheduled to host the 2023 ODI World Cup, the last global event in the current FTP cycle. Ten teams will do battle for that trophy but from 2027 onwards the tournament will expand to include 14 and will witness the revival of the Super 6s format, where the top three teams, from two groups of seven, will play each other for a spot in the knockouts.The T20 World Cup, too, will expand to include 20 teams. They will be split into four groups of five with the top two entering the Super Eights stage followed by the knockouts.

South Africa seal come-from-behind series win as India fall apart

Petersen sets up 212 chase with a classy 82 before van der Dussen and Bavuma finish the job

Alagappan Muthu14-Jan-20222:34

Cullinan: Petersen, Bavuma massive pluses for South Africa

South Africa never ever give up a Test match. They were, not so long ago, the greatest travelling team in the whole world. They remain experts of the blockathon. And when you have the courage – the audacity – to dead bat entire days of cricket, a target of 212 in a home game is nothing to worry about.India fought hard. They began the fourth day with four dots. Two of them were plays and misses. One was an almost fatal piece of misjudgment where the batter allowed an uninterrupted path for the ball to strike his person.Jasprit Bumrah went for his yorkers early. Mohammed Shami got it to seam away at will. Shardul Thakur got the only wicket to fall on the day. This is an attack not to be trifled with. And South Africa knew it. They respected the fact that the 111 runs they still needed for victory would require them to put their body, mind and spirit on the line. And that’s what they did.Related

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Keegan Petersen, oh boy. South Africa finally have their own KP.There is a kind of easy grace to him. It’s hard to explain but picture Rohit Sharma and the shots he plays. Gloriously minimalist.There was one in the 33rd over. It was only a single but if anyone managed to take a picture of the positions Petersen got into to play his on-drive, the makers of the cricket manual might be interested in it.Shami was swinging into him, trying to cramp him. He saw it early. So he had the time to plant his front foot forward – but not too far – and angle it away so that it wouldn’t impede the flow of a straight bat coming down on the ball.There was no anger in the shot. He seems to reserve that for his off side play. Especially when he decides to go on the back foot. The cuts through point and punches through cover really do leave a mark.Members of the two sides shake hands at the end of a hard-fought series•AFP/Getty Images

Assisting Petersen were Rassie van der Dussen, with his low backlift expressly designed to protect his stumps, and Temba Bavuma, the first Black African batter to score a Test match century for South Africa. That was back in January 2016. He’s come close a few times – a seventy here, an eighty there – but it’s been six years and he hasn’t added to that count. He’s still only got one century in 47 Test matches.South Africa have kept the faith in him though. They’re a side in transition. They need senior players to guide them through it. And on Friday, Bavuma was the steadying hand that repelled one of the fiercest sides in international cricket. He struck two outstanding boundaries in one Bumrah over to end a spell where South Africa made just six runs in 48 deliveries.India were feeling it back then. “Just the keeper and the bowlers left, boys” Virat Kohli said. All of them were averaging around 15 in Test cricket. All of them could put their feet up and relax thanks to Bavuma.That first Test defeat in Centurion now looks like an anomaly. South Africa went into it after six months in the red-ball wilderness. The rust they were still shaking off was deeply obvious on opening day. Since then, they have rallied and rallied hard. It was Lungi Ngidi who made a lot of this possible. He was the one who picked up Kohli’s wicket here and triggered a fatal India collapse of 6 for 46 in the second innings. Then he came into the press conference and said this wasn’t a team of superstars. He won’t be able to keep saying that if they keep playing like this.

Opportunity for India, South Africa to build ODI plans

South Africa will be missing Kagiso Rabada, who has been withdrawn from the ODI squad to manage his workload

Firdose Moonda18-Jan-20220:50

Sanjay Manjrekar: ‘Put pressure on the opposition, open with Venkatesh Iyer’

Big picture

Unlike most of the ODI cricket played at the moment, the three-match series between South Africa and India does not form part of the World Cup Super League, with those fixtures said to be slotted in at a later date. The 50-over format takes a bit of a backseat for much 2022, but this series will give both teams a chance to try out combinations. For South Africa, those combinations will include seeing how the attack holds up in the absence of Kagiso Rabada, who has been released by Cricket South Africa “due to high workloads over a sustained period of time”. CSA is giving Rabada time to rest and recover ahead of South Africa’s trip to New Zealand next month.With a T20 World Cup 10 months away, you may be wondering why these matches have been tacked onto the Tests, instead of T20Is for example, when they actually don’t count for much? Well, remember that this series was originally also supposed to include four T20Is, but concerns over the Omicron variant, which delayed India’s arrival in the country, chopped those off the schedule. The ODIs have stayed, not least because they bring CSA millions of rands through broadcast rights – more than they would get for a shorter format.But there may end up being some method to this madness as both sides have plenty to work on in this format.South Africa remain out of the automatic qualification zone for the 2023 World Cup after dropping points in Ireland and Sri Lanka. Given the volume of cricket and restrictions of bio-bubbles, this is a rare occasion when they have something close to a full strength squad at their disposal. Anrich Nortje is out with a hip injury, but captain Temba Bavuma is back, after breaking his thumb in Sri Lanka, as well as several senior players who were rested for the Netherlands series. Headlining that group is Quinton de Kock, who announced his retirement from Tests after the Boxing Day match, but has returned from paternity leave.India are also as close to their first choice group of players as possible. They are without their new permanent captain Rohit Sharma, who was ruled out with a hamstring injury, but do have their new permanent coach, Rahul Dravid, at the helm for the first time in an ODI series since being given the job on a full-time basis. Dravid took a second-string side to Sri Lanka in July, and won, and will want to start building for the outfit that will compete at the 2023 World Cup.

Form guide

South Africa LWLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)

India LWWWL

In the spotlight

After struggling for runs in the Tests,Aiden Markram will look to the ODIs to redeem himself and also improve his numbers in this format. In 34 matches, Markram averages 28.10 and has yet to bring up three-figures, but came close with 96 in Sri Lanka. The return of specialist openers to the ODI squad and Markam’s recent success in T20s at No. 4 suggests that he should be batting in the middle-order in this series, which may give him the opportunity to play himself back into form ahead of a trip to New Zealand and a home series against Bangaldesh.It’s that man again Virat Kohli. While it comes across as though viewers of this series simply shouldn’t take their eyes off him, he has given us all plenty to look at. From revealing a different version of events to the BCCI about his stepping away from white-ball captaincy to giving up the Test leadership, and shouting at the stump microphone in between, Kohli has been under the microscope for reasons other than his form. But let’s talk about that. He was not able to break his century drought in Tests but will hope he can do so in ODIs. He last scored an ODI hundred in West Indies in August 2019, but has made eight fifties in 15 innings since.Temba Bavuma will have Quinton de Kock back in the squad•ICC via Getty

Team news

South Africa have a bottleneck at the top of the line-up, which could leave Rassie van der Dussen coming in lower than he is used to. They have room for two allrounders and may have to choose between seam and spin in that role, two out-and-out quicks and a specialist spinner. Rabada won’t be there to choose from, but they have added some cover in the form of left-arm spin-bowling allrounder George Linde, retained in the ODI unit after being part of the Test squad. Rabada’s absence could open a door for the young Marco Jansen make an ODI debut, following a highly successful Test outing.South Africa: (possible) 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Janneman Malan, 3 Temba Bavuma, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Rassie van der Dussen 6 David Miller, 7 Dwaine Pretorius/George Linde, 8 Andile Phehlulwayo, 9 Marco Jansen, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Tabraiz ShamsiCaptain KL Rahul confirmed on the eve of the game that he would open in Rohit Sharma’s absence. He also hinted that India could play two spinners.India: (possible) 1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Venkatesh Iyer, 7 Deepak Chahar, 8 Shardul Thakur/Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Pitch and conditions

Known for being slow and flat, Boland Park has thrown up some surprises over the years, most notably Sri Lanka being skittled out for 43 a decade ago. But first-innings scores tend to be high here and South Africa have topped 350 once in the last five years and come close on another occasion. Expect big runs on a ground with small boundaries, if the teams manage to not wilt in the weather. The Western Cape is experiencing a heatwave and temperatures in Paarl are set to top 45C this week.

Stats and trivia

  • South Africa have not won an ODI series since sweeping Australia 3-nil in February 2020. They’ve since drawn with Ireland and lost to Sri Lanka.
  • Yuzvendra Chahal needs three wickets to become the 23rd Indian player to take 100 wickets in ODIs.

Quotes

“I think he’s fine. He’s practising with us. So I don’t see any discomfort. Hopefully everything stays that way. Nothing that I am aware of right now but everyone seems to be okay. And hopefully it stays that way.”
“The batting preparation from a slow bowling point of view has been happening for the past year and you would have seen the positive results that the guys displayed when we played in Sri Lanka. At the World Cup as well, we made positive strides in terms of how we are playing slow bowling. Coming up against India, spin bowling is a strength of theirs. That’s something we are aware of. We’ll prepare as well as we can to mitigate against that.”

Talukdar's 61, Russell's freak run out headline Khulna's triumph on BPL opening day

Tamim Iqbal’s 50, and Dhaka’s total of 183 for 6, proved insufficient

Mohammad Isam21-Jan-2022How the match played outKhulna Tigers romped to their 184-run target against Minister Group Dhaka, winning by five wickets to round off an action-packed opening day in BPL 2022. This was their third 180-plus successful chase in tournament history, having done it twice during the 2019-20 season.Dhaka had posted 183 for 6 in 20 overs, a formidable total especially considering the capricious Dhaka pitch. Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Shahzad gave them a fast start, adding 69 in 8.1 overs before Mahmudullah hit the big shots in the end.Khulna, too, responded brilliantly. Rony Talukdar top-scored with 61, but it was his 72-run second-wicket stand with Andre Fletcher that fired up Khulna’s chase. Later, Thisara Perera and Mahedi Hasan took them home with an over to spare, adding 33 runs in 2.3 overs.Related

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Big hitFletcher made 45 off 23 balls with seven fours and two sixes. He struck 22 runs off Rubel Hossain, hitting him for four fours and a six in the fourth over. Talukdar played the anchor role, making 61 off 42 with seven fours and a six.For Dhaka, Tamim hit 50 off 42 balls, while Shahzad blasted 42 off 27 with eight fours. Their innings got a final flourish from Mahmudullah, who struck three sixes and two fours in his 20-ball 39.Dhaka innings earned an element of timelessness when Mahedi ran out Andre Russell, who fell short at the non-striker’s end after the ball struck both sets of stumps in a incredible instance of geometry.Big missDhaka’s bowling came unstuck, with Rubel, Isuru Udana and Russell going for 121 runs in their combined 11 overs. Earlier, with the bat, Russell had made only seven runs, which played a part in them not being able to reach 200.

Mark Wood elbow injury rules him out of action in Antigua

Fast bowler experiences “acute pain” after attempting to bowl in nets before fifth day

Andrew Miller12-Mar-2022Mark Wood looks set to be ruled out for the remainder of England’s tour of the Caribbean, after a team spokesman confirmed that he had felt “acute pain” in his right elbow during an exploratory nets session on the final morning of the first Test in Antigua.Wood, England’s fastest bowler, had not played any part in the match since bowling five compromised overs on the third morning, in which his regular 90mph pace was noticeably lacking.Despite optimistic updates from the England camp in the past 24 hours, the nature of Wood’s injury had been an immediate concern, given that it was elbow soreness – later diagnosed as a stress fracture – that caused England’s other 90mph spearhead, Jofra Archer to undergo two operations in 2021, the second of which is likely to keep him out of action at least until May.Related

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And despite England’s pre-lunch declaration on the final day in Antigua, with which they set West Indies a tempting target of 286 in 71 overs, their hopes of victory have already taken a major hit with the confirmation that Wood was out of contention.A spokesman confirmed that no discussions about replacements had yet been held, although Warwickshire’s Liam Norwell is understood to be among the seamers on the reserves list. Ollie Robinson, who missed this match with a back spasm, was back to bowling off a full run-up during the final-day warm-up and could come back into contention for next week’s second Test in Barbados, while the uncapped duo of Saqib Mahmood and Matt Fisher are the other remaining options.According to the team spokesman, Wood attempted to bowl approximately six deliveries in the nets before the start of the fifth day’s play, but “struggled with acute pain” – an assessment that chimes with the concerns voiced by Steve Harmison, the former England fast bowler and TalkSPORT commentator, who said that Wood had been “devastated” after suffering the injury, adding that “he’s frustrated, he couldn’t straighten his elbow, there’s a bit of swelling”.After an injury-plagued start to his Test career, including three ankle operations in the space of 12 months in 2016, Wood has enjoyed a sustained run of fitness in recent times – partly attributed to his decision to revert to a longer, smoother run-up after a sprinter’s style approach in his early years. He was England’s stand-out bowler in an otherwise dismal Ashes series, claiming 17 wickets at 26.64 in four Tests, making this the busiest winter of his 26-Test career.That Ashes workload, Harmison added, may have been a contributory factor in this subsequent breakdown.”He bowled a lot [in Sydney] and I remember thinking that we’re going to need him further down the line”, Harmison said. “He just kept bowling dead overs.”But Mark will never ever shy away from that. The thing with him is that he always wants to take wickets, he’s a bit like Ben Stokes. And that’s where you need strong leadership to just take the ball off them and make sure they don’t go anywhere near the bowling.”

Harshal Patel leaves RCB bubble after sister's death

It is unclear as of now for how long the fast bowler will be unavailable

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Apr-2022Royal Challengers Bangalore fast bowler Harshal Patel has left the IPL bio-bubble following the death of his sister.Harshal exited the bubble on Sunday after the game against Mumbai Indians on Saturday in Pune.It is not clear yet for how long Harshal will remain unavailable for his team and he will miss at least one game, against Chennai Super Kings at the DY Patil Stadium on Tuesday. To re-enter the IPL bubble, he will need to undergo quarantine for a minimum of three days.Harshal has been a standout player for Royal Challengers over the past couple of seasons and he took 2 for 23 on Saturday in the team’s seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians. He is their second-highest wicket-taker so far with his tally of six wickets, behind Wanindu Hasaranga’s eight. Overall, he has picked up 84 wickets in the 67 IPL matches since debuting in 2012.His breakthrough year came in 2021, when took the purple cap home with 32 wickets at an average of 14.34. He was also the top wicket-taker in the death overs last IPL with 19 wickets.He was, however, not retained by Royal Challengers ahead of the mega auction earlier this year, before he was bought again by them for a whopping INR 10.75 crore (USD 1.4 million) – 53.75 times his previous salary of INR 20 lakh.Harshal, 31, has played eight T20Is since making his international debut last year.

Pakistan vs West Indies ODIs moved from Rawalpindi to Multan

Political uncertainty forced the relocation, with the ODIs expected to start at 4pm

Umar Farooq30-May-2022Pakistan have relocated their home series against West Indies from Rawalpindi to Multan. The decision has been taken in light of political uncertainty in Islamabad – the country’s capital, adjacent to Rawalpindi. The fixtures and schedule, however, remain unchanged, with the three ODIs, which are a part of the Cricket World Cup Super League to be played on June 8, 10 and 12.The games were originally slated for Rawalpindi, but the PCB had kept Multan as a back-up option, with former Prime Minister Imran Khan potentially planning protest rallies in the capital over the coming days. The original protest rally took place on May 25, but there remains a significant possibility of further such rallies over the coming days.Multan remained the only viable option, with Lahore and Karachi’s pitches being relaid, and the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar undergoing renovation work.Multan is situated in southern Punjab, and among the hottest cities in the country, with temperatures in the high 40s expected on matchdays. Pakistan has never hosted elite cricket at this time of year due to the summer heat, with nearly all high-level competitions including domestic season played during the winter and spring months between September and April.During the summer months, the PCB has mostly held its training camps in northern side of the country mostly in Abbottabad, which is located in the hilly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and experiences relatively milder weather. Last year, the PCB had made an attempt to host women cricketers camp in Multan but had to call off the camp due to extreme heat.The games will start at 4pm in the afternoon to mitigate the weather conditions. Pakistan will carry out their training camp in Lahore from June 1-4, before the squad moves to Multan on June 5. West Indies will arrive in Islamabad as planned on June 6 and will travel to Multan on a charter flight. The ODIs have been carried over from the series scheduled last December, when only the three T20Is took place, a Covid outbreak in the West Indies camp forcing the postponement of the ODIs. There will be no biosecure bubble for the series.

TV coverage in Bangladesh unlikely for Antigua Test

This could be the first time since 2001 that a Test in which Bangladesh are playing in will not be shown

Mohammad Isam16-Jun-2022For the first time since 2001, a Test match involving Bangladesh will not be broadcast on TV in Bangladesh as negotiations between the rights-holders and Bangladesh’s TV networks failed to materialise for the rights to the Test series in the West Indies. The Antigua Test, which begins on June 16, will only be available on the ICC’s streaming channel for a subscription fee.But there are efforts being made to show the matches for free on the BCB’s social media handles.”The Bangladeshi channels are not interested in showing these matches, but the BCB and Total Sports Management (TSM) have managed to put it on so that the people of Bangladesh are not deprived of the coverage,” Moinul Haque Chowdhury, owner of TSM, the company that bought the rights from CWI, reported .BCB director Ismail Haider Mallick said, “We are trying to show the matches on BCB’s Facebook and YouTube channels for free”.It has come to this point after T-Sports or Gazi TV, the Bangladeshi channels that have been showing all of Bangladesh’s international cricket in recent years didn’t land a deal with TSM. Both channels have reportedly bought the BCB’s broadcasting rights for 2021-23 from Ban Tech, who had initially bought it from the board for $19.07 million last year.But such a TV blackout was on the cards from earlier this year when the Bangladesh broadcasting rights were only picked up a week from the start of the New Zealand vs Bangladesh Test series in January. Last year, the Bangladesh vs Australia T20I series wasn’t aired in Australia due to a lack of interest.The last time a Bangladesh Test wasn’t shown was back in 2001 during the Asian Test Championship when one of the matches wasn’t shown in Bangladesh.During a month-long tour, Bangladesh will play West Indies for two Tests, three T20Is and three ODIs.

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