Quinton de Kock to miss 2 Test matches against India

Rohit Sharma’s ruled out of Test series against South Africa

India opener and new white-ball captain Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the Test series against South Africa after pulling his left hamstring, the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) informed. Priyank Panchal has been named as his replacement. Sharma, who was recently named the vice-captain of the Test side after Rahane was axed from the post, suffered the injury during the net session before the Indian squad entered quarantine in Mumbai. Panchal, on the other side, had travelled to South Africa with India ‘A’ side and scored 96, 24 & 0 in three innings during the course. Panchal has played 100 FC games and has notched up over 7000 runs at a healthy average of 45.52 including 24 centuries and 25 fifties.

BBL 11 | Watch : An umpiring howler costs Ben Duckett his wicket

Brisbane Heat's star batsman Ben Duckett was not very happy as he was wrongly adjudged LBW by the on-field umpire in the clash against Melbourne Renegades. Duckett got out after scoring 11 runs in 10 deliveries. Trying to play the sweep shot off a Zahir Khan's delivery, Duckett got deceived as the ball crashed onto his front pad. The leg-spinner appealed and the umpire was confident enough to give the decision in the bowler's favour. However, as the replays showed, it seemed the ball would have certainly missed the leg-stump. With DRS (Decision Review System) not available in the Big Bash League, Duckett had no option other than to walk back to the dressing room. Although, he expressed his disappointment at the decision but nothing could have been done due to the lack of technology. Talking about the match, Brisbane Heat gathered an easy win in their encounter against Melbourne Renegades. After winning the toss, Brisbane opted to bowl. As none except Mackenzie Harvey managed to score big, the Renegades could only reach a total of 140 runs. With the vital contributions from Chris Lynn and Sam Heazlett, Brisbane Heat breezed past the target set for them in just 16.5 overs.

Mahela Jayawardene appointed as ‘Consultant Coach’ of Sri Lanka

Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena has been appointed as the ‘Consultant Coach’ of Sri Lanka for a period of one year. The right-handed cricketer will be "in charge of the overall cricketing element of the national teams and will provide invaluable strategic support for the players and management teams at the High-Performance Center," according to SLC. More to follow...

Pakistan install drop-in pitches to prepare for T20 World Cup in Australia

In an interesting development, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ramiz Raja has informed that Pakistan will be developing drop-in pitches in Karachi and Lahore. The move is aimed at the T20 World Cup which is scheduled to be hosted in Australia later next year. Raja explained that Pakistan have consistently struggled in those kinds of pitches because of the unfamiliarity with the surfaces and the best way to deal with it is to emulate the conditions here at their home. Raja took the reference of the recently held domestic matches in the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and stated that those pitches were horrible and it is not possible to produce power hitters if the domestic players keep playing in those conditions. He argued that to improve in foreign conditions, Pakistan need to play in drop-ins and in hybrid pitches, where grass is artificially sewn to the ground after preparing a pitch naturally. To make it possible, PCB have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Arif Habib Group which will cost them a total of PKR 37 crores.