'No special deals' for families of England cricketers on Ashes tour: Australia PM

England had a chance to repay a debt by travelling to Pakistan: Michael Atherton

Former England cricketer Michael Atherton has taken a dig at the ECB and stated that the board had a “chance to do the right thing this week”. After New Zealand had abandoned their limited-overs tour of Pakistan minutes before the start of the first ODI in Rawalpindi citing security concerns, England were the next to cancel their trip to the Asian nation. “English cricket, the governing body and players, had a chance to do the right thing this week. They had a chance to repay a debt, uphold their honour and side with a cricketing nation that has undergone challenges others cannot even begin to contemplate. Instead, citing a mealy-mouthed statement, they did the wrong thing,” he wrote in his column for ‘The Times’. The former England skipper further added that it would be surprising if Australia go ahead with the tour in February. “Australia’s reputation for doing the right thing is as bad as England’s, so it would be a surprise if they front up in February. Pakistan will be facing a financial hammer blow,” he wrote. The former Pakistan cricketers including the new PCB chairman Ramiz Raja had hit back on the two boards. “They do not expect England to travel, despite the commitment, and have lost any trust and faith in them. It is hard to blame them.”

AUS-W vs IND-W | Mithali Raj puts onus on openers to give positive start as India look to fight back

India women’s team ODI skipper Mithali Raj has said that a steady start from the openers can help the side get back in the groove. "The opening partnership - if they can give us a good start, clearly the middle order can take the momentum from there," Raj told reporters after the match. "But if you lose wickets, you actually have to build an innings in the first ten overs. Smriti [16 in 18 balls] has been on the international circuit for a while, so we would expect some runs from her,” she added. The Indian openers failed to leave a mark in the first ODI of the series against Australia after the two departed early in the proceedings. Mithali admitted that the kind of batting line up that the Australia side possesses, India would need to put something around 250 to give a fight. "When you know the sort of batting line-up the Australians have, anything closer to 250 is what we were looking at,” she added. The two sides will now play each other in the second ODI in Mackay on Friday. The hosts are presently leading the three-match series 1-0 and would look to take an unassailable lead while the Mithali Raj-led side would be looking to get back on track.

Completely respect team management's decision of continuing with Pant as DC skipper: Iyer

Delhi Capitals batsman Shreyas Iyer has said that he completely respects the team management’s decision of continuing with Rishabh Pant as the skipper despite his return to the side. Iyer who was previously the captaincy of the team had missed the first leg of IPL 2021 after getting injured during the home series against England and subsequently DC had handed over the captaincy to Pant in his absence. “When I got the captaincy, I was in a different frame of mind. My decision-making and temperament level was really good. It really helped in the last two years. But obviously, this is part of the decision-making from the franchise. I respect the decision they have made to continue with him (Pant) as captain,” said the right-handed batsman in the press conference after the match. Iyer lauded Pant for the way he has been leading the team. “As for Rishabh Pant, he is leading really well from the start of the season. That’s why the decision-makers took the call to let him continue till the end of the season. I completely respect it,” he added. DC were off to a flying start in the second half of the IPL 2021 after they thumped SRH by 8 wickets in Dubai on Wednesday night. Chasing 135 in 20 overs, the side went over the line in the 18th over to move at the helm of the points table. Iyer and Pant stitched an unbeaten stand of 67 runs for the third wicket to take the team home. While Iyer remained unbeaten at 47 off 41, Pant struck 35* off 21 during the course. Delhi will next take on Rajasthan Royals in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

IPL 2021 | DC vs SRH: Hits and Flops as Anrich Nortje, Shreyas Iyer floor struggling Sunrisers

It wasn’t an ideal start of the UAE trip for the Sunrisers Hyderabad as their main bowler T Natarajan was found Covid positive right ahead of the start of their first game in the second leg of the Indian Premier League. But even more disheartening for the team and their fans were the fact that they went on to lose their seventh game of the season out of the eight that they have played so far. The eight-wicket loss of Sunrisers against the Delhi Capitals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium has now left the Orange Army with just a mathematical chance of qualification to the Playoffs, because realistically winning the rest of their six matches, or at least five from here on to hope for a Playoff qualification is a difficult task. The Capitals were all over the team from Hyderabad right from the word as they did not let the Sunrisers batters score freely, eventually reducing them to 134 for 9 in the 20 overs. The batters of the Capitals were equally brilliant as they lost only two wickets to chase the total down. Thus it is no surprise that the Hits section would be dominated by players from the Delhi Capitals and the Flops by the Sunrisers. Hits Anrich Nortje Even though Kagiso Rabada, Nortje’ senior compatriot had more wickets than him, the latter has been able to make the list not only ahead of the former but also without him because he got the start that the Capitals needed. Removing David Warner, the most important batter in the entire opposition lineup in the very first over was the start that the Capitals were looking for and the Proteas bowler provided them with exactly that. He not only picked the all-important wicket but also choked the flow of runs, thereby putting further pressure on the likes of Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson and other batters. Eventually, the right-arm fast bowler dismissed Kedar Jadhav too and ended up with figures of 2-12 from four overs. It was hardly a surprise that Nortje, who couldn’t feature in even a single game in IPL 2021 up until now, even after being the second-best DC bowler in the 2020 season, was chosen as Man of the Match for this performance of his. Shreyas Iyer It seemed like a day of comebacks for Delhi as after Nortje, former skipper Shreyas Iyer, who had also missed the first leg of the competition due to an injury, made a great comeback by hitting 47 of 41 balls and remaining unbeaten till the end to see his team home. Iyer arrived when Delni were not really at their best with opener Prithvi Shaw gone at the team score of 20 in the three overs. However, the 26-year-old took control of the season and neutralised Rashid Khan, the biggest weapon of the Sunrisers by not letting him settle down. After putting up a 52 run stand with Shikhar Dhawan, stylish Iyer also had a 67 run stand with his successor to Delhi’s captaincy throne, Rishabh Pant. The kind of firm that he exhibited in the first game, other teams really need to beware of him. Rishabh Pant It is a debatable choice no doubt, especially after the performances of Rabada, Dhawan Rashid Khan to an extent. Pant even dropped a catch off the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin who looked off-colour in this game. Why then was pant chosen? The answer to that revolves around his leadership skills. It might not show through his actions in that head, which lets him do all the chirping, there seemed to be lying a smart brain that knows which bowler to bowl at what time, how to not overreact on a dropped catch, how even after playing the most awful shot on the very first ball that he faced, not to look beyond himself and always keep in mind the target that is needed to win. All this might seem like a fluke shot, but it shouldn’t because he has now done it in seven out of nine games. Under his captaincy, the Capitals are performing good and he is leading with example, just like in this game where he scored a 35 off just 21 balls and also remained unbeaten to see his team home. Flops David Warner The misery of David Warner doesn’t seem to end. If everyone thought that stripping him of captaincy would make him think more freely and with more commitment to just batting, then the left-hander proved everyone wrong in the very first match. Warner was out in the very first over at nought, trying to play a shot which didn’t even exist in his dictionary, a false shot, on a short of a good length ball. Warner’s dismissal was kind of an indication of how things are really shaping up the Sunrisers camp. He might get another chance in the next game, but he must bear in his mind that it might just be his last chance. Bhuvneshwar Kumar The primary pacer of the Hyderabad unit, Bhuvi was totally off the mark in this game. In his three overs, he not only went for 21 runs without even picking up a wicket while defending 134, but he was also responsible for letting Dhawan settle down by bowling to his legs, easy pickings. In total, it was not the Bhuvi people have come to know over the years. He was not the only failure in the team but had to share the blame and especially be made an example of because he shares the responsibility of being the leader of the Sunrisers bowling pack. With their seventh of the season, the Capitals are once again back at the top. They will now face Rajasthan Royals while Hyderabad would look to put the misery behind them when they face Punjab Kings because the latter might be feeling more miserable after a two-run loss in their last game, where they were unable to score four runs in the final over to win.