Home
Cricket News
Adil Rashid Confirms Azeem Rafiqs Allegations Of Racism On Michael Vaughan

Adil Rashid confirms Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of racism on Michael Vaughan

In a big development in the Azeem Rafiq racism row, current England spinner Adil Rashid has confirmed that Michael Vaughan, the former Yorkshire and England captain indeed used the sentence, “There are too many of you lot; we need to do something about it."

Azeem had earlier alleged that Vaughan had used this term during a Yorkshire County game in 2009 when Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, the Pakistani pacer along with three players from the Muslim community were part of the Yorkshire playing XI. There is still one player who has not come forward to support Rafiq while the other two in Rana Naved and Rashid have confirmed the allegation.

"I wanted to concentrate as much as possible on my cricket and to avoid distractions to the detriment of the team but I can confirm Azeem Rafiq's recollection of Michael Vaughan's comments to a group of us Asian players,” Rashid said in a statement quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

The repercussions of this statement by Rashid could be huge in the case of Vaughan’s future career as he has already been stood down from his next Radio 5 Live programme, the Tuffers and Vaughan Show, by the BBC.

Rashid came forward with the statement as he was encouraged by the fact that a Parliamentary Committee seems to be trying to improve the situation and change can be expected from that.

“These can only be positive developments. I will of course be more than happy to support any official efforts when the time is right. For now, though, these matters are of an intensely personal nature and I will not be commenting on them further. I ask you to respect my privacy and allow me to focus on my cricket,” said the England leggie.

So far Garry Balance and Vaughan have voluntarily named themselves as being part of the investigation conducted into the allegations made by Rafiq of institutional racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

More names are expected to be revealed when Rafiq, a former Yorkshire captain himself gives evidence in front of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee on November 16.

Discover more

The Abu Dhabi T10 League is back | Timings, teams, where to watch details

The Abu Dhabi T10 League is back, 9 months after the commencement of its last edition. One of the prominent white-ball tournaments in the cricketing circuit, it is famed for big-hitting capabilities and toe crushing yorkers. Over its last four seasons, the primary goal of the tournament has been to provide entertainment to the crowd and this time it will be no different. Schedule The fifth edition of the tournament is scheduled to begin on 19 November with the final scheduled on 4 December, Saturday. The last edition had three matches being played on the same day with the first game starting at 5:30 PM IST. The other two matches were scheduled to begin at 7:45 PM and 10 PM respectively. The current edition will start its first game at 5:30 PM IST and its final game at 9:30 PM IST. All matches take one and a half hours to be completed. All matches will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi Teams While the last edition of the tournament hosted 8 teams and was played with teams divided in two groups of four, this edition just houses 6 teams. It would mean that this edition will be played in a round robin league system with all teams playing against each other twice in the group stages. Team Abu Dhabi, Chennai Braves, Deccan Gladiators, Delhi Bulls, Northern Warriors and Bangla Tigers are the six teams for the season. The last edition of the tournament was won by Northern Warriors under the tutelage of Nicholas Pooran, who was also the player of the tournament. Where to watch Last year the Abu Dhabi T10 league was broadcasted on Sony Sports Network, but the rights have shifted to Voot for this edition of the tournament. One can live stream it via Voot or watch it on the corresponding Colours channels.

Drinking off the shoe: Watch - Australian players celebrate their first-ever T20 World Cup win

The Australian team won its first T20 World Cup title since the inauguration of the tournament in 2007 and went wild with the celebrations. So much so that Matthew Wade and Marcus Stonis, the two heroes from the semi-final victory of the Kangaroos went on to celebrate with a ‘shoey’, a popular custom in Australia, where one serves their drink inside a shoe. In a video shared by the International Cricket Council on its official Social media handles, Wade can be seen removing his shoe and putting some beverage into it and drinking it. Stoinis also drinks from the same as the rest of the team members cheer on. In another video, shared by ICC itself, Players like Adam Zampa, Nathan Ellis, Kane Richardson and Steve Smith can be seen dancing to the tunes of the famous song Freed from Desire. On Sunday, November 14, Australia defeated trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand by eight wickets as they chased down 173 with one over remaining to win the title.

Records tumble as Australia finally win T20 World Cup

Australia emerged victorious in T20 World Cup 2021 after beating New Zealand in the final in Dubai by 8 wickets. Chasing a formidable target of 173 runs in 20 overs, the Aussie side rode on some exceptional batting from David Warner and Mitchell Marsh to go over the line in the 19th over. Both Warner and Marsh struck individual half-centuries during the course. Earlier, New Zealand were able to put 172/4 in 20 overs, courtesy a brilliant batting from skipper Kane Williamson. The right-handed batsman struck a 48-ball 85 which included three maximums and 10 fours. Here we take a look at some of the stats from the tournament. * Australia lifted their first ever T20 title. They reached the finals back in 2010 but suffered a defeat against England in the title clash. For New Zealand, it was their first T20 World Cup final. * Australia pacer Mitchell Starc was struck for 60 runs in 4 overs in the final against New Zealand. He became the most expensive bowler to have ever bowled in the T20 World Cup final. * David Warner became the highest run-getter for Australia in a T20 World Cup. The left-hander amassed a total of 289 runs in the tournament and surpassed Matthew Hayden who had notched up 265 runs in the 2007 edition. * Mitchell Marsh scored the fastest fifty in a T20 World Cup final after he went past the 50-run mark in 31 balls. * New Zealand’s skipper Kane Williamson’s 85 is the joint-highest individual score in a T20 World Cup final along with Malon Samuels 85* against England that he scored in 2016. * Pakistan skipper Babar Azam scored the most runs in this T20 World Cup 2021. The right-hander struck a total of 303 runs in six matches that he played. * The 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup witnessed three hat tricks. Ireland’s Curtis Campher picked up a hat trick against The Netherlands, while Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga achieved the feat against South Africa. Later, Proteas pacer Kagiso Rabada bagged a hat trick against England. Before this edition of the T20 World Cup, only Brett Lee had scalped a hat trick back in 2007 against Bangladesh. * Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga picked up the highest wickets in the competition. The spinner scalped a total of 16 wickets in 8 matches.

T20 World Cup | Final | 'Hard to process this' says coach Langer after global glory for Australia

The Australian coach Justin Langer, who had to bear it all after his team failed continuously in the past year, was ecstatic to have won his first major trophy with the bunch of players. Appointed the coach in 2018, Langer was part of the infamous sandpaper gate scandal that pushed Australian cricket way back. “It's hard to process into words,” said the 51-year-old when asked about his feelings after the global glory that his team achieved by beating the trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in the final of the T20 World Cup 2021. “This is such a special group of people. When we all got back together it was great. It is a very special moment for everyone, almost like a reunion. We knew how much talent we had,” Langer said trying to impress upon the point that when his team failed, it was mostly because it didn’t have the services of its top players. Talking about the players who shone in this World Cup, the former Australia Test opener lauded Micthell Marsh, who was the Player of the Match in the final, for grabbing the opportunity when he got one. “Leading into the World Cup in the series against West Indies and Bangladesh, there were a few missing pieces and Mitchell Marsh took one of those pieces. We embraced it and had fun,” Langer said. Praising the bowlers, the left-handed batter and one of the stern taskmasters said that he was impressed by the way Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood performed. “Zamps (Adam Zampa) puts a smile on my face. He is different, a bit hippy, but so so competitive. We have seen leg spinners having an impact in this format. Hazlewood had some back issues in the last World Cup but has come back strong,” he said.