Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka has backed his young team to again show their fighting qualities and push for a semi-final place at the T20 World Cup despite the heavy defeat against New Zealand at the SCG. Shanaka admitted that their fielding effort had been a deciding factor – Glenn Phillips was dropped twice, including
Even though Optus Stadium’s green-tinged surface conjures pace and sharp bounce, characteristics that are well suited to them, South Africa’s speedsters have been urged to be restrained as they contemplate loading up with four quicks against India in a blockbuster T20 World Cup clash. Quicks Mark Wood and Haris Rauf have lit up the pitch
Wasim Akram has opened up on his struggle with a cocaine addiction after his playing career ended, in his upcoming autobiography Sultan: A Memoir. Akram, Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker in both Test and ODI cricket, retired in 2003 after an 18-year international career, but continued to travel the world on commentary and coaching assignments. The cocaine
Glenn Phillips‘ innovative move to take up a sprinter’s start position at the non-strikers’ end was not pre-planned although he did suggest that it would help him avoid the risk of being run-out backing up which he said was an entirely justifiable dismissal. Phillips’ running between the wickets was a standout feature of his spectacular
While Kulkarni was elected unopposed as the female ICA representative, Vengsarkar defeated outgoing ICA president and former India cricketer Ashok Malhotra. In e-voting held over three days, Vengsarkar received 402 votes compared to Malhotra’s 230. Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy were the first ever ICA representatives in the BCCI with their tenure lasting from October
Tagenarine Chanderpaul, the son of former batter Shivnarine, has earned his maiden call-up to West Indies’ senior side for the two-match Test series in Australia in November-December. Tagenarine, who was picked as a reserve batter for the home series against Bangladesh earlier this year, is expected to open the batting alongside captain Kraigg Brathwaite. John
Former Pakistan captain and fast bowling legend Wasim Akram has revealed that he was addicted to cocaine. The 1992 World Cup-winner said this in an interview to the Times, according to a BBC report. Akram said that he has made these revelations in his new autobiography that is soon to be released. Apart from playing a
The joke among Bangladesh fans, particularly in the past eight years, is that their team schedules a series against Zimbabwe whenever they are out of form. But that overlooks the fact that it is the cricket boards – and not the teams themselves – that schedule series against each other. And in that respect, the
The teams from group 2 in the T20 World Cup have only played two matches each, but with upsets and rain in the air, there is plenty at stake in each of the remaining matches. Here is a look at how the teams stack up in the race for the two semi-final spots. PakistanPlayed: 2,
Big Picture Last-ball defeats in consecutive matches. Points column empty. Best two batters quiet. Players failing to hold their nerve in make-or-break moments. Pakistan have ticked all those boxes and, as a consequence, find themselves in a precarious position where their fate in this World Cup is not entirely in their hands anymore. What’s still
New Zealand 167 for 7 (Phillips 104, Rajitha 2-23) beat Sri Lanka 102 (Shanaka 35, Boult 4-13) by 65 runs Sri Lanka had New Zealand 15 for 3 in the powerplay. But then they dropped Glenn Phillips, and it was all new Zealand from there. Phillips bashed 104 off 64 deliveries to almost single-handedly carry
Big picture Week one of the T20 World Cup is done and the pace has been set. India have taken the early lead, despite logistical challenges (cold avocado sandwiches, anyone?) with South Africa and Zimbabwe in the chasing pack. Sunday will be telling for Group 2, with all six teams in action and a top-of-the-table
New Zealand’s 65-run win against Sri Lanka puts them on top of group 1, but plenty can change in the six remaining matches in the group. Here is a look at how the teams stack up in the race to the two semi-final slots. New ZealandPlayed: 3, Points: 5, NRR: 3.850, Rem matches: vs Eng,
Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine is cautiously optimistic about his side’s chances against their most frequent rivals Bangladesh. The two teams will be playing each other in the T20 World Cup for the first time, and interestingly, it’s Zimbabwe who for a change will enter as slight favourites, eyeing a place in the last four. Bangladesh
Big picture Fatigue-wise, New Zealand have had a kind start to the tournament. They thrashed Australia in Sydney, then took the short flight to Melbourne, where their match against Afghanistan was rained out without a ball being bowled. They’d have preferred to play that match, of course, but they’ve not had to contend with crazy
West Indies’ white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran has vowed to use the hurt of his team’s first-round exit at the T20 World Cup as “motivation” to bounce back strongly. After suffering defeats against Scotland and then Ireland, West Indies failed to make the T20 World Cup proper for the first time. “Obviously, we don’t know what
Harbhajan said that the performance showed the gap between India and other teams.© Instagram India had a near-perfect game against Netherlands at the T20 World Cup on Thursday as the Rohit Sharma-led side won by 56 runs. Though Netherlands initially looked like putting up a fight with the ball, it fizzled out at the halfway
Australia vs England – match abandoned Australia and England took a point each from their Group 1 match at the T20 World Cup after a wet, unsafe outfield led to their match being abandoned at the MCG. Both teams now have three points, after a win and a loss apiece in their opening two games.
Daryl Mitchell admitted having a moment when he feared the worst about his T20 World Cup prospects after fracturing his finger just weeks before the tournament, but he is confident ahead of his return to New Zealand’s middle order against Sri Lanka at the SCG. Mitchell suffered the blow while batting in the nets before
India batter Shubman Gill is open to batting in the middle order in limited-overs format and emphasised the importance of reducing dot balls in T20 cricket by relying more on rotating strike against spin. While Gill has been a regular in India’s Test setup, he is yet to make his T20I debut and is on
Jos Buttler backed the decision to call Australia’s clash against England off without a ball being bowled, saying conditions weren’t “fit to play”, and that “every bowler who bowled” would have had concerns over the playing surface. “They [the umpires] had some big concerns and, I think, rightly so,” Buttler said, after a series of
Will Pucovski has taken an indefinite leave of absence from cricket for personal reasons that are unrelated to his repeated concussion troubles over the years. Pucovski played in Victoria’s first two Marsh Cup and Sheffield Shield games of the new season earlier this month, but he did not play in the last two Marsh Cup
Zimbabwe 130 for 8 (Williams 31, Wasim 4-24, Shadab 3-23) beat Pakistan 129 for 8 (Masood 44, Raza 3-25, Evans 2-25) by one run Zimbabwe promised to cause as much damage as they could in the Super 12s and, two games in, they have inflicted a major blow. They defended 130 to deny Pakistan their
Pakistan captain Babar Azam conceded his team was “not up to the mark”, but backed the selection gamble to field a bowling heavy line-up after their T20 World Cup semi-final prospects nosedived with a one-run defeat to Zimbabwe at Optus Stadium in Perth. Just four days after a harrowing last-ball defeat to India at a
India’s centrally-contracted women cricketers are set to earn the same match fees as their male counterparts for appearances in international matches, according to BCCI secretary Jay Shah, in accordance with the board’s new pay equity policy. Under this policy, the women – like the men – will earn INR 15 lakh for a Test, 6
Cyclone Sitrang wreaked havoc as it travelled along the southern tip of Bangladesh, leaving most of the country, and the National Cricket League, rain-soaked. Three out of the four matches were drawn after the first two days, October 24 and 25, were rained off, with only Barishal Divisionbeating Dhaka Metropolis by four wickets in mostly
Pakistan lost to Zimbabwe by one run.© AFP The Babar Azam-led Pakistan suffered a stunning meltdown on Thursday to go down by one run to Zimbabwe in their second Group 2 game in Perth. This loss came after Pakistan had lost their first game against India. The defeat against Zimbabwe will hurt Pakistan as they
Australia are negotiating a second Covid-positive case in three days with wicketkeeper Matthew Wade testing positive just 24 hours out from their vital clash with England at the MCG on Friday. Wade did not train at Australia’s optional indoor session at the Junction Oval on Thursday afternoon after testing positive. It follows hot on the
Hashan Tillakaratne, the former Sri Lanka captain, has been appointed as the national women’s team head coach for the next two years by the BCB. He will join the set-up in November, with the side starting their build-up for next February’s T20 World Cup in South Africa around that time. “We have spent a long
It has been a remarkable return to international cricket for Rilee Rossouw. After six years away, during which he took up a Kolpak deal in county cricket that did not go down well with CSA, he has now compiled back-to-back T20I centuries, alongside an unbeaten 96, in just seven innings. His numbers for the year