Mustafizur Rahman credits IPL for improvement in his form

Bangladesh cutter specialist Mustafizur Rahman believes that his brief stint in the Indian Premier League earlier this year has helped boost his confidence and has instilled in him a great sense of zeal to improve to be able to compete at the highest level.

“I feel playing in the IPL helps to perform at the international level because you are playing against the best there and I feel that if you can do well there (IPL) than international cricket, it becomes much easier,” Fizz was quoted as saying to Cricbuzz.

The left-arm pacer, who specialises in cutter deliveries feels that bowling to the best players in the game during the IPL means that if you are successful there, you take the confidence into international cricket as well.

"World's best players compete in this tournament and if you are successful, certainly it will raise your confidence. And I am sure that will be the case with me because if I do well in IPL then certainly I will be carrying loads of confidence going into the World Cup," the 25-year-old said.

Praising the Rajasthan Royals management, the franchise for which the Stkhira born represented in IPL 2021, Fizz said, "There was a coach called Sid Lahiri and he helped me a lot in Rajasthan's camps. In fact, not only him but everyone spoke small good things and it felt very good.”

Talking about his plans for the upcoming T20 series against New Zealand, especially after the historic 4-1 win over Australia earlier this month, Mustafiz said that he is confident for the upcoming series against New Zealand, IPL and ICC T20 World Cup because of the rhythm he has got himself into.

"I need to work on my backhand slower (delivery). I have got control on it reasonably but need to sharpen it more," he said explaining the one thing that he would like to improve on what seems like a perfect arsenal he posses for the shortest format.

Rahman who took eight wickets during the India leg of the IPL 2021, would be taking part in its UAE leg when it starts on September 19.

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Tainted Avishka Gunawardene appointed Afghanistan batting coach ahead of T20 World Cup

After appointing former Australian speedster Shaun Tait as bowing coach the Afghanistan cricket Board made another shot in the arm announcement appointing former Sri Lankan batter Avishka Gunawardene as the national team’s batting coach ahead of the al important T20 World Cup, which will take place in UAE and Oman later this year. The announcement was made by the board via its official Twitter handle. “Former @OfficialSLC batsman and coach, Avishka Gunawardene has been appointed as Afghanistan National Team's batting coach,’ it tweeted on Tuesday, August 17. Gunawardene, who was recently cleared of corruption charges, which were levelled against him for being involved in alleged corrupt practices during the T10 League of 2017, played 66 ODIs and six Tests for the island nation. He debuted for Sri Lanka in 1998 and played his last match in 2006. The 44-year-old has had decent coaching experience being the head coach of Sri Lanka A side and batting coach of the senior Sri Lankan Men’s team in the recent past. Gunawardene was also part of the now-defunct and first-ever franchise cricket league in the world the Indian Cricket League (ICL). The first challenge for the new coach would be Afghanistan’s limited over series against Pakistan in Sri Lanka in September.

What will happen to Women cricket in Afghanistan amid the relentless Taliban chaos?

In what would have been a great step in the history of Afghan cricket with discussions of 25 women cricketers getting central contracts and moving towards the formation of a national women’s team just a few months ago, now seems like a distant dream with the Taliban takeover of the country. Although the Taliban have been making promises of allowing women to work and get an education, the ground realities with women and children clinging on to the tires of a flying aeroplane, knowing that their fate would be nothing but death, and still just trying to evade the Taliban rule paint a completely different picture. The international cricketing community is also worried about the future of Afghanistan’s full member status which it got in 2017 because ICC requires every full member nation to have a national women’s team. "That was a massive development. We don't know what would happen now,” an ICC source was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz regarding the Afghan situation. Lisa Sthalekar, former Australia Women cricketer and a member of ICC Women's Cricket Committee was equally worried about the situation and said, "I have not heard from the ICC on what is happening as far as women's cricket in Afghanistan. But personally, I am concerned about what is happening there." Shafiqullah Stanikzai, former CEO of Afghanistan Cricket Boardnad the man who led the team to permanent membership of the ICC in 2017 believes that cricket wouldn’t be much affected by the recent developments in the country. "Cricket in Afghanistan began from refugee camps and we have come a long way. With very limited resources, we climbed our way up to full membership," he was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz. Stanikzai further said that cricket has given Afghans a new identity and even after the complete makeover of the country which is all but certain to happen in time to come, it will continue to grow. "I hope and pray that cricket in Afghanistan continues to grow. For us, it is beyond a sport, a game. Cricket has given us an identity making the image of Afghans around the world optimistic. Through cricket, we convinced the global community to invest in our talent and in Afghan youth. I hope this continues,” he said. The national team is currently in preparation mode for a limited over series against Pakistan in Sri Lanka.

'Virat hasn't had a great start': Tendulkar explains reason behind Kohli's lean patch

India skipper Virat Kohli hasn’t really been among runs for quite sometime now. The right-handed batsman in fact began the England series on a disappointing note after getting out for a golden duck in the first innings of the first Test in Nottingham while failing to contribute with the bat at a crucial juncture in the second innings of the second Test at Lord’s. Former India great Sachin Tendulkar has pointed out the issues that Kohli is facing in England. "Virat hasn't had a great start. It is the mind that leads to technical errors and if the start isn't good you start thinking about a lot of things. Because anxiety levels are high you tend to over compensate your movements," Tendulkar was quoted as saying by PTI. "When a batsman isn't in good form you either go too far across or don't move your feet at all. That happens to everyone. Form is also your state of mind along with the body working in harmony," Tendulkar added. Kohli has scored 0, 42 and 20 in the three innings that he has batted on this England tour so far. The right-hander is visiting England for the third time in his career. He had a terrible run in 2014 where Kohli only managed to score 134 runs in 5 matches but made a roaring comeback in 2018 to notch up 593 runs on the tour. India went 1-0 up in the five-match series on Monday after winning the Lord’s Test by 151 runs. The two sides will meet each other in Leeds for the third match which is scheduled to begin on August 25.

India is the team to beat says two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain Daren Sammy

India has made it to the knockout stage of every World event in cricket starting from the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 and two times T20 World Cup winning captain West Indian Daren Sammy believes that for any team to be able to win the upcoming T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman, they would have to go past India once again. Stressing upon the fact that the Indian players come into international cricket with a lot of experience, Sammy said, “India is the team to beat. The experience, their T20 players come into international cricket with, whether it is from India's domestic T20 cricket or the IPL, you see all the countries go there and get the experience.” “Apart from the World Cup, I think this is if not, the most pressure situation (tournament), where the players will be under and India has that formula,” added St. Lucia born while speaking in a video uploaded by the ICC on the occasion of the revealing of the schedule of T20 World Cup 2021. Recounting his own experience how important it is for every team to go past India in every tournament, Sammy said, “In 2016, when we left our homes, me, the coach and all the guys said -- in order to win this tournament, you will have to go through India. Whatever stage it is, you will have to go through India, whether it is the final, the semi-final.” Though India is the official host of the tournament, it will be played in UAE and Oman. Speaking on whether or not it will be disadvantageous to the hosts, Sammy said, “Yes, it has shifted to the UAE, but don’t forget, before that, all the Indian players would have completed the IPL and got used to these conditions.” “It is not surprising to me that the Indian cricket board chose this place, at this time, to complete the IPL and it will also benefit the other teams. But you will have to go through India in any tournament,” Sammy concluded his argument as to why India are the favourites for the tournament.