IPL allows franchises to replace players from India leg, door open for Iyer, Natarajan's return

SLC appreciates Rahul Dravid for continuing tour despite Covid-19 outbreak in Indian team

The Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) has praised Rahul Dravid for continuing India’s tour despite Covid-19 outbreak within the team. "If he wanted, he could have easily taken the team back to India," Mohan de Silva, the secretary of SLC, told Cricbuzz. "The most encouraging aspect of the whole Pandya episode was the role of the support staff of the Indian team, led by Rahul. If he wanted, he could have easily taken the team back to India,” he added. All-rounder Krunal Pandya had tested positive for Covid-19 and was isolated along with his close contacts immediately in Sri Lanka. The players subsequently had to miss the final two T20Is that the visitors eventually lost. "We have 11 players available and we will play them. There is nothing to feel sorry about,” Dravid had said before the start of the 2nd T20I. The former India captain had travelled with the Indian team as the head coach Ravi Shastri was in the UK with the Virat Kohli-led side. The team that toured Sri Lanka was led by Shikhar Dhawan clinched the ODI series but suffered a defeat in the T20Is. After Krunal, K Gowtham and Yuzvendra Chahal had also tested positive for the virus but the three players have now returned home after recovery.

Barbados women’s team to represent West Indies at CWG 2022

The Barbados women’s team will represent the West Indies in next year’s Commonwealth Games, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced. The CWI made the announcement after the T20 Blaze and Women’s Super50 Cup were postponed. “Following the postponement, the Barbados Women’s team will be the representative team from the West Indies as a result of their victory in the 2020 CWI T20 Blaze tournament and in line with Commonwealth Games Association Tournament rules agreed by the International Cricket Council (ICC),” CWI said in a statement. “…we have been forced to take the decision to postpone the Women’s T20 Blaze and Women’s CG Insurance Super50 Cup for this year,” CWI CEO Johnny Grave said. “We wish them all the very best as they compete for the gold medal, and we know they will continue to do West Indies proud.” The game will return to CWG after it was played in 1998 while the women’s cricket will be introduced for the first time in the 2022 Birmingham edition. The decision of the women’s tournament being postponed was taken after the ODI and T20I fixtures between West Indies and South Africa were finalised which will take place from August 31 to September 19.

Jonny Bairstow running out of 'superlatives' for Joe Root

Jonny Bairstow, who has made a comeback into the England Test team for the first two Tests against India, said that Joe Root’s supremacy with the bat in recent times has left him lost of “superlatives”. Bairstow had the best seat in the house for the most part of Root’s 180 not out at Lord’s in the second Test as he shared a 100-run partnership with his skipper. Recalling his batting with Root, Bairstow said that they wanted to relish the opportunity of batting, and they enjoyed the” buzz” of a full house Lord’s on Saturday. “Heck of a lot as he does do for English cricket. He’s in second place for the leading run-scorer for the country, he is very special to us. To score another 180* at Lord’s, I have run out of superlatives for him. It is just great to see him in that form and putting on partnerships with him, enjoying every single moment with him,” Bairstow said in the press conference after the end of the third day’s play. “It is amazing, Saturday at Lord’s when Joe and I walked out, we just wanted to enjoy ourselves and that’s what we did. We wanted to relish the opportunity and make the fullest use of it. It was really special to see the Lord’s buzzing, it was definitely back with the crowd.” England were more than 200 runs away from India’s first innings total and it was on Root and Bairtsow’s shoulders to bridge that gap on this day. They batted brilliantly to not lose any wicket in the first session but Indian bowlers did not give up in their efforts and kept asking some tough questions of them throughout the day. At the end of the day, courtesy of Root’s daddy hundred, England were able to secure a lead of 27 runs, which Bairstow said the team would have happily accepted at the start of the day. “The game today went through different periods, the ball got a little softer as the day picked and it became tough for us to score boundaries and runs. There was a great ebb and flow in the game, if you had said that we would get a 27-run lead at the end of the day, we all would have been happy with it,” England’s new number five said. What made Bairtsow feel so confident about England’s chances in the game after having a lead of 27 runs is the factor of James Anderson, who holds a fantastic record against India at Lord’s. He had taken his seventh fifer at the venue in the first innings and Bairstow reminded the Indian batting order of “tough challenges” that await them on the fourth day. “We got a new ball in our hand, it will be a tough challenge for India early on. We would come out firing and pace in Woody, Jimmy and Rob. Hopefully, we would continue to challenge them at every juncture in the morning session,” the right-hander said. Bairstow too scored a solid 57 to aid Root and England’s strong reply to India’s first innings total. He has shown signs of improvement in his technique after going through a tumultuous phase against India away from home, and the results are beginning to show. He had looked good at Trent Bridge as well but could not stretch his score to a fifty. He would be disappointed with not converting a good 57 into a three-figure and failing prey to India’s short ball tactic but he was pleased to regain consistency in his batting. “It was pleasing, consistency is something you want, isn’t it? To get the 57 was pleasing, I would have loved to go on naturally but it was one of those things. The pitch started getting two-paced, flying to the keeper and one falling short of the keeper. It would get tricky as the game progresses,” Bairstow concluded. India have their tasks cut out in the third innings of the Test match at Lord’s and they would need the trio of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara to come good with the bat after a prolonged period of struggles. England, on the other hand, would put their money on Anderson to dismiss India cheaply and then chase down the score to go 1-0 up in the series.

Afghanistan, Australia postpone scheduled ODI series; Cricket Australia to allow players for IPL

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and Cricket Australia (CA) have come to a mutual agreement to postpone the ODI series between the two teams that were scheduled to take place in India. “The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and Cricket Australia agreed to postpone the tour given the complexities of travel, quarantine periods and a finding a suitable location for the matches given the relocation of the T20 World Cup to the UAE,” the boards said in a statement. “With the World Cup relocated from India to the UAE, the ACB will continue to explore the possibility of hosting a proposed T20 tri-series involving Australia and the West Indies," the statement added. Courtesy of the postponement, CA has said that it will grant the NoC to the players taking part in the remainder of the IPL 2021 which will now be held in the UAE in September-October. “No Objection Certificates will be granted to Australian players wishing to take part in the remaining upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) matches to be played in the UAE,” Cricket Australia said. The IPL 2021 was suspended on May 4 this year after there were instances of Covid-19 cases within the franchises but the competition will now resume on September 19 when Chennai Super Kings will play Mumbai Indians at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Adam Zampa, David Warner, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell are some of the prominent Australian players who will feature in the competition while Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan is an integral part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad unit.