Rashid Khan steps down as Afghanistan skipper over team selection

Defending champions West Indies name World T20 squad without Narine; Rampaul, Chase earn call up

The defending champions West Indies have named their squad for the upcoming edition of the ICC World T20 scheduled to be played in the UAE and Oman. The squad will be led by Kieron Pollard while Nicholas Pooran, who earlier this year was rated as the future of West Indies by the skipper himself has been elevated as the vice-captain of the men in maroon. The likes of Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Fletcher strengthen the youth and flair quotient of the Windies batting group that is already enriched with the presence of heavyweights such as Pollard, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo. The bowling department appears a bit thin with the absence of Narine but the emergence of Hayden Walsh Jr. in the recent past augurs well for the Windies on those pitches in the UAE and Oman. He has had a successful run of form against Australia and South Africa in the recent past and the leg-spinner will be hoping for replication of his performance against those sides as they are placed in the same group as the Windies. The quartet of Darren Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Jason Holder and Akeal Hosein has been selected as reserves to travel with the side. The selection of players is on the expected lines except for the non-selection of Sunil Narine and the selection of Ravi Rampaul and Roston Chase. The recent performances in the ongoing edition of the Caribbean Premier League would have tipped the selectors in favour of Rampaul and Chase. Rampaul has returned to the Windies squad in the shortest format for the first time since 2015 while Chase has earned a maiden call up. “Ravi Rampaul is a highly experienced bowler who performed well in the last CG Insurance Super50 Cup and the current Hero CPL to date. He will boost the team's wicket-taking options in the power-play and the middle phase and will provide another option for the death overs. Roston Chase has shown that he is a very capable T20 player. He performed well in the CPL in 2020 and has been outstanding in the 2021 edition so far. He has shown the ability to knit the innings together while still scoring at a fast rate with a low dot-ball percentage. He will be an excellent foil for the explosive players in the team,” Windies’ lead selector Roger Harper explained the reasoning behind the selection of Rampaul and Chase in the side. West Indies will start the defence of their championship title against their opponent in the final of the last edition—England on October 23 in UAE.

Indian players clear Covid-19 test, Old Trafford Test likely to go ahead as scheduled

In a big relief for both the BCCI and the ECB, all Indian players have tested negative for Covid-19 in the latest round of testing and it could well mean the fifth and final Test of the series between India and England will go ahead as planned. The uncertainty around the fifth Test emerged in the wake of India’s assistant physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar testing positive for the virus upon the team’s arrival in Manchester for the last Test. Following his positive report, India’s training sessions and press conference on a day prior to the game were also cancelled. Meanwhile, as per a TOI report, the BCCI and the ECB were at loggerheads over the viability of the final game of the series in case there would have been more cases in the Indian camp. The host board asked the BCCI to give the England team a walkover from the last game which would have meant the ongoing series would have ended in a draw. However, the report further suggested that the BCCI on the advice of the players refused to accept the condition before the tests came negative. Another report in The Hindu suggested that the BCCI was eager to abandon the final Test of the series as it could create a hurdle in the swift transfer of players from England to biosecure bubbles for the IPL to be played right after the series. India lead the five-match series and hence they are reluctant to forfeit the final game while England are eager to draw the series at whatever cost. The Covid-19 infection to physiotherapist comes days after India’s head coach, bowling and fielding coach were tested positive for the highly contagious virus during the last Test at the Oval.

USA’s Jaskaran Malhotra hits six sixes off six balls against PNG, enters record books with Yuvraj Singh

It was incredible scenes at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Muscat, Oman as United States Of America’s Jaskaran Malhotra hit six sixes off six balls of Papua New Guinea’s Gaudi Toka to enter the elite club of international cricketers like India’s Yuvraj Singh, South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs and West Indies’ Kieron Pollard who have pulled off this feat before him. Malhotra also went on to record the highest individual score for a USA batsman in ODI cricket as he reached to unbeaten 171 courtesy of the six sixes he hit in the last over of the American innings. It is interesting to note that the 31-year-old wicketkeeper batter Malhotra made his comeback into the USA squad after having last played an international game way back in 2019 against Namibia. In fact, with his blitzkrieg of an innings, Malhotra also became the first and only USA batter to hit a century in any international format, he beat the previous best score of 96 by a US batter which was achieved by Aaron James against UAE in 2019. Courtesy of his innings in which Malhotra hit four fours and 16 sixes, which is also the joint second-most by any batsman in ODI cricket, the USA reached a target of 271-9. He along with skipper Saurabh Netravalakar added 55 runs for the 10th wicket, another record for the US team. Malhotra’s 16 sixes equalled the record of modern greats of the game Rohit Sharma, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle.

SL vs SA | 1st T20I: Boosted by ODI series win, Lankan Lions aim for T20 glory ahead of World Cup

The Sri Lankan team won the ODI series courtesy of an amazing win against South Africa in the third and final ODI. Their mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana was unreadable for the Proteas batters and ran through their defences. While the first two ODIs were still competitive, in the third one, South Africa seemed no match to the Sri Lankan spin. Only today, (September 09) the South African T20I squad was announced and Temba Bavuma, who has left Sri Lankan with a hand injury and whose replacement as a skipper has yet not been named by Cricket South Africa for the T20I series, will lead the team in the World Cup. It would be interesting whether Maharaj continues to lead South Africa in the T20Is too or whether somebody else is given the charge. The Sri Lankan team, which for the first-ever would have to undergo a qualifying round before they enter the main draw of the T20 World Cup. Thus this series against a top-quality South African side is ideal preparation for its first-round matches where they play European countries such as the Netherlands and Ireland and an African country Namibia, all of whom play similar traits of cricket as South Africa. Thus, Dasun Shanaka’s team would look to start on a great note for their World Cup campaign by winning this T20I series against the Proteas. It is expected that Kusal Perera would be back for Sri Lankan in place of Kamindu Mendis while Proteas would see either Quinton de Kock or Aiden Markram lead the side as Bjorn Fortuin would most likely come in for Keshav Maharaj while Anrich Nortje and David Miller will come in for George Linde and Wiaan Mulder respectively. Sri Lanka vs South Africa: Details Match Number- 01 T20I Date and Time: September 10, 2021, 07:30 pm IST and Local, 02:00 pm GMT Venue: R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Broadcast and Livestream: Sony Sports Network and Sony LIV Pitch Report If the pitch is to be taken on the face value of what happened n the third ODI, it could be a rank turner. However, it is guessed that this time the team would be slightly better but would still provide turn for spinners. With dew coming on late at night, more or less it would be a good wicket for a great match. Weather Forecast Like the ODIs, this game would also be under the threat of rain. Ther are predictions of light to heavy rainfall with thunderstorms for Friday, September 10 in Colombo. Probable XI Sri Lanka Kusal Perera (wk), Avishka Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Praveen Jayawickrama South Africa Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Bjorn Fortuin, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Anrich Nortje Dream XI Team Wicketkeepers Quinton de Kock Batters Rassie van der Dussen, Charith Asalanka, Kusal Perera, David Miller All-rounders Wanindu Hasaranga, Dhananjaya de Silva Bowlers Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana Vice-Captain Wanindu Hasaranga Captain Wanindu Hasaranga