Cricket News

“Imagine things work out…”

The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Sunday included uncapped Fariha Islam and Disha Bishwas in the 20-member preliminary squad for the upcoming Women’s ODI World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, from November 16 to December 5. Besides the duo, there were no surprises as the team management decided to keep their faith in the tried and tested.

England fast bowler Stuart Broad has said he will be willing to tour Australia later this year for the Ashes series and has urged honchos at the England & Wales Cricket Board to negotiate acceptable arrangements for the team that’ll give them the best chance to be mentally strong and comfortable enough to compete in the series.

New Zealand Cricket Players Association (NZCPA) has said that a couple of their Pakistan-bound cricketers had received death threats a few weeks prior to their departure. NZCPA chief executive Heath Mills revealed that the threats were received through social media and other channels but were not deemed serious enough at the time.

Wasim Khan, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief executive, has pointed at “inequality” in terms of treatment towards Pakistan, in the backdrop of the New Zealand team pulling out of the tour due to security reasons.

The England men and women’s tours to Pakistan, scheduled for next month, are in severe doubt following New Zealand Cricket’s decision to abandon their own tour to the country on Friday (September 17) after what they described as a “government security alert”.

Virat Kohli will step down as India’s T20I captain after the T20 WC in the UAE next month, he announced on Thursday (September 16) in a statement on Twitter. Kohli said he arrived at the decision in order to better manage his captaincy workload in the Test and ODI format, having discussed the matter with coach Ravi Shastri and vice captain Rohit Sharma.

The first ODI in Rawalpindi on Friday (September 17) will mark New Zealand’s first international appearance in Pakistan in close to 18 years. While acknowledging that it will be a special occasion for the hosts, New Zealand’s stand-in skipper Tom Latham added that his team will be up for the challenge despite the unfamiliarity with the conditions.

December 7, 2003 – that was the day when New Zealand last played an international fixture in Pakistan. Brendon McCullum, Chris Crains, Jacob Oram and Daryl Tuffey were part of the fixture in Rawalpindi. They were then blanked 0-5 then but now return as the No. 1 ranked ODI side in the world albeit with a different set of players.

South Africa’s top-order batsman Aiden Markram has been roped in by the Punjab Kings for the remainder of IPL 2021 – starting September 19 – as a replacement for Dawid Malan. Malan, along with a couple of other England players have opted out of travelling to the UAE for the T20 tournament.