Lisa Sthalekar slams BCCI on giving cold shoulder to Veda Krishnamurthy

Former Australia cricketer Lisa Sthalekar has lambasted the Board of Control for Cricket in India for the latter's insensitivity in handling contracted cricketers during the covid-19 pandemic. Sthalekar took to Twitter to lash out at the Indian board calling them out for not communicating with Indian cricketer Veda Krishnamurthy after the middle-order batswoman lost her mother and sister to the pandemic. Sthalekar's statements come after Krishnamurthy was dropped for the upcoming tour of England. Sthalekar further alleged that the board has not even called to check in on the cricketer and vented her anger on BCCI's handling of the situation.

“Whilst not selecting Veda for the upcoming series may be justified from their point of view, what angers me the most is that as a contracted player she has not received a communication from the BCCI, just to even check how she is coping,” she wrote on Twitter.

Krishnamurthy was dropped a day after Ramesh Powar was selected as the coach of the Indian women's team, an incident that was not free of drama as well. The outgoing coach WV Raman allegedly mailed the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and National Cricket Academy head Rahul Dravid that 'prima donna culture' was hurting the women's team; an allegation that got Powar sacked three years back.

Read more about the incident by clicking here.

Krishnamurthy has played 48 ODIs and 76 T20Is for India. She has accumulated 829 runs in the ODIs while has notched up 875 runs in the shorter format.

Squad for Test & ODI: Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav.

Squad for T20I: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain) Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Simaran Dil Bahadur.

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Harry Gurney retires from all forms of cricket following long-standing shoulder injury

England pacer Harry Gurney has bid adieu to all forms of cricket following a long-standing shoulder injury. The injury that he sustained last year forced him to miss Nottinghamshire's successful T20 Blast campaign as well the IPL with the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise. "The time has arrived for me to hang up my boots," he said. "After trying to recover from the recent injury to my shoulder, I am truly disappointed to have to end my playing career as a result of it. From the first time I picked up a cricket ball at the age of ten, I was completely obsessed. Cricket has been my life for 24 years and has taken me on an incredible journey that I will cherish forever." Gurney played 10 ODIs for England picking up 11 wickets during the course while featured in a couple of T20Is where he scalped three wickets. Apart from this, the fast bowler was a part of the setup with Melbourne Renegades that won the Big Bash League and Barbados Tridents who lifted the Caribbean Premier League. He bagged a total of 614 wickets across all formats. "Playing for England, in the IPL and winning eight trophies at home and abroad including the Blast, Big Bash and CPL has exceeded my wildest dreams," he said.

Bowlers were probably aware of ball tampering at Newlands: Cameron Bancroft

Cameron Bancroft who was one of the three Australian players apart from Steve Smith and David Warner involved in the famous ball-tampering controversy that took place in Newlands Test in 2018 has made a new revelation. Bancroft has said that the bowlers were aware of the alteration in the conditions of the ball and added it was 'self explanatory'. While speaking to The Guardian Bancroft suggested that whatever he did eventually helped the bowlers. "Yeah, look, all I wanted to do was to be responsible and accountable for my own actions and part. Yeah, obviously what I did benefits bowlers and the awareness around that, probably, is self-explanatory,” h said. He further added that he could have made better choices had he been more aware. "I guess one thing I learnt through the journey and being responsible is that's where the buck stops [with Bancroft himself]. Had I had better awareness I would have made a much better decision." When quizzed about whether the bowlers were aware of the tampering, he said, "Uh... yeah, look, I think, yeah, I think it's pretty probably self-explanatory." Bancroft was slapped with a nine-month ban by the Cricket Australia (CA) for his involvement in the controversy while Warner and Smith were banned for one year. Darren Lehmann who was the then coach of the Australian side also stepped from his post.

England's IPL players not to feature in Test series vs New Zealand: Reports

The England players who were a part of now suspended IPL 2021 will not feature in the Tests against New Zealand slated to take place next month as they lack red-ball practice, as per some reports. This would mean that the likes of Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Moeen Ali are likely to miss the Test series against the Blackcaps. The cricketers are presently serving the mandatory 10-day quarantine after they returned from the IPL and the isolation will end at the weekend. “The timeline is considered too tight for the (IPL) returning players, meaning calls up are expected for the likes of Ollie Robinson, Craig Overton and James Bracey,” according to a report in ‘BBC Sport’. “While fitness levels could be managed, the lack of red-ball practice could be a concern — particularly with other options having spent several weeks competing in the County Championship,” said another report in ‘The Independent’. In fact, the England men’s cricket managing director Ashley Giles had also hinted earlier that the players returning from the cash-rich league won’t be a part of the Test series against the Kane Williamson-led side. There are as many 11 England players who are a part of respective IPL franchises. The IPL 2021 was suspended with immediate effect on May 4 after there was a surge in the Covid-19 cases within the franchise teams.

Indian Women’s team for England tour: Sneh Rana, Indrani Roy rewarded; Shafali included in Tests and ODIs

Sneh Rana and Indrani Roy the top performers in the only domestic tournament for Indian Women’s cricketers during the tournament-the ODI Trophy have been rewarded with a place in the senior team for the England tour. Shafali Verma, the swashbuckling opener has been named in the ODI and Tests squad for the first time as well. Rajeshwari Gayakwad's is the only key name missing in the squad which otherwise retains its core. It is learned that Gayakwad had tested positive for Covid-19 last month. The All-India Senior Women's Selection Committee announced the squad for the one-off Test match, three ODI & five T20 matches which would be framed under three different series in three formats. The announcement was made on Friday, May 14, just a day after Ramesh Powar replaced WV Raman as the coach of the Indian Women’s team. Jharkhand’s Roy was the main reason for the state’s first-ever appearance in the final of the prestigious domestic tournament with her tournament-leading runs tally of 456 runs in eight matches at an outstanding average of 76 and with two hundred in her kitty. Rana, captaining Railways in Mithali Raj’s absence was phenomenal with both and ball, in fact, the off-spinner was the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 18 scaps from eight games. She also scored 160 runs at a healthy average of 40. Fast bowler Shikha Pandey, who was left out of the India squad for the South Africa series has made a comeback to the squad in all formats as well. While Mithali has the reigns of Tests and ODIs, her deputy in those formats, Harmanpreet Kaur would wear the captain’s hat in the T20Is. The team is scheduled to reach England with the Men’s team on June 02, while the series starts with a one-off Test in Bristol from June 16. The team would then play the first ODI at the same venue on June 27 before moving to Taunton for the second game on June 30th. After finishing the final ODI in Worcester on July 03rd, the team would move northwards. The three T20Is are scheduled for July 09th, 11th and 15th at Northants, Hove and Chelmsford respectively. India’s Senior Women squad for Test & ODI: Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav. India’s Senior Women squad for T20I: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain) Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Simaran Dil Bahadur.